


my daughters keeper

by MythologicalHoe



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Children of Characters, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Ghost Luke Skywalker, Inappropriate Use of the Force, Rey Needs A Hug, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-07-02 16:07:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 35,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15799974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MythologicalHoe/pseuds/MythologicalHoe
Summary: The Last Jedi hasn't been seen in four and a half years and a lot has changed since then. The Rebellion and the Order are now allies and New Alderaan is in the middle of construction all thanks to the Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren. On the side he's been trying to find Rey for four and a half years but it isn't until a girl enters his dreams that he connects the dots and realizes why she hasn't been seen in such a long time.





	1. who are you

The first time she came to him, she interrupted his nightmare. She was small, but was so familiar and so innocent looking. She interrupted the throne room, it was a subtle thing at first. Some child humming a tune, then everything crumbled around him. He was just left with the Force. And her.    
He didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know who she was. 

 

"Hello?" She looked up at him, tugging at his cape. "Who are you?"   
  


"Who are you?" He stared down at a girl whose eyes were too wise for her years.    
  


"Vi'Ra," She said. She had a posh lilt to her voice. One that sounded like Rey, but Kylo thought that might just be his imagination. 

 

"Vi'Ra," He repeated. "Do you know what you're doing here?" She shook her head no and he knelt down beside her. "You have the Force."

  
"I know that," She said. "So does my mom."

Kylo tensed, but didn't say anything. "Why are you dressed like a shadow?" 

  
"What do you mean?"

  
"All that black," She said. "Doesn't it get hot?"

 

“No.”   _ Yes... sometimes. _

 

"My mommy said that my dad liked to wear a lot of black."

 

“Yeah?”

  
  


"Yeah," She said. 

  
"What else did your mom say about your dad?" 

  
"That he was a nice guy," Vi’Ra said. "But he was sad."

 

"Was your dad nice?" Kylo sat down next to her. 

  
"I think he tried to be," He told her.

  
"Are you nice?"

 

“That’s a good question.”

 

"My mom said that if you have to think about it it makes you a better person, because you're remembering the fact that people might not see you as nice for things you've done. She says if you have to think about it it means that you can recognize you're not always nice."

  
"You're mom sounds smart,"

  
"She is." Vi'Ra beamed. "She's the smartest woman I know." 

  
"What's her name?"

  
"Rey,"

  
"Thats a pretty name," He said. 

  
"Yeah," His heart was starting to clench up. Part of him was telling him this girl wasn't real. If she was real she wasn't his.

  
"Who's your dad?"

  
"I don't know," She said. "I tried to ask my mom his name once and she got sad."   
  


“Does she talk about him a lot?”

  
"Sometimes," Vi'Ra said. "She cries about him a lot though. When she thinks I'm asleep. I go into her room and cuddle with her until she feels better."

 

“That’s very sweet of you.”

 

“Yeah, I just want her to feel better. I don’t like her feeling sad,” That was understandable. Kylo remembered the deep depressions that Leia used to enter when Han was gone. How much it broke his heart because he felt he wasn’t good enough to stop it from happening. 

"I think she really loves him." Vi’Ra said.    
  


“... Really?”    
  


"I mean she told me that she was waiting for him to come back. Because she knew he would. You have to really love someone to wait for them,"

  
“You do.”

  
"Have you ever loved someone that much?"

  
“Yes.”

  
"Are you waiting for them?"   
  


“I guess you could say that.”   
  


She was silent for a long time, just staring at him with those eyes of her that were far too wise for a girl so young. “I hope you find her.”

 

After that, Kylo woke up. 

* * *

  
  


_ Four Years Ago  _

 

When Rey had first found out that she was pregnant, she was terrified. It was the Force that had told her, waking her up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. Everyone was asleep on the Falcon, some of the Resistance wounded, some taking watch. 

 

Rey had to go outside. She was nauseous and couldn’t be inside with everyone else. She needed to be outside. The air was cold that night and it nipped at Rey’s skin. She kept looking down at her now flat stomach, the realization that a child was growing inside it was a mixed bag. 

 

Rey had always wanted a family, she had for the longest time and for the most part she still did,  but the father of this child was the ruler of a dictatorship, someone who had chosen power and money over her. Not to mention the fact that they were in the middle of a war. If Kylo found out that Rey was pregnant he would try to get that child and use it for his cause. If Leia found out Rey was pregnant she would try and get that child to use it for her cause. 

 

Rey didn’t have the means to terminate the thing that was growing inside of her and she wasn’t sure she wanted to. But that only left one option. She had to get away from here. Far, far away from here. 

 

So she did. 

 

When the Rebels were all holed up in the Falcon and people were scavenging for supplies in the woods, Rey slipped out of sight.

 

She hadn’t been seen since then. 

* * *

  
  


_ Three Years Ago  _

 

When Kylo managed to get a peace treaty signed between the Rebellion and the Order almost a year after he had become the Supreme Leader, he felt like for once he might be actually capable of doing something good. 

 

Rey had been missing from action for nearly all of that time, and that was the only thing that gave him an advantage over everyone else. 

 

_ Rey.  _

 

He still tried to reach out to her every day, every night, the words would always bounce back at him through the Force. He would keep trying to reach her though. He would keep trying to improve, for her. For him. He was good at being the Supreme Leader. After Hux was killed and his coup was dismantled, Ben found he was quite good at it.

 

If only Rey could see him. 

* * *

 

Vi’Ra was one year old and the best thing that ever happened to Rey. She was on a planet far far away from all the war. There was plenty to scavenge and farm and she built her home there when she carried Vi’Ra in her stomach. There was times when it had been hard to move and times when Rey didn't want to get up but she did. She did and it paid off because Vi’Ra had a nicer home than Rey did as a child. 

 

Rey breastfed her and worked almost constantly, making sure Vi’Ra would have the life she wanted. She would. 

 

_ Present _

 

“I think I talked to dad,” Was the first thing Vi’Ra said when Rey woke her up in the morning. Rey tensed. “He was really nice.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Really,” She said. “His ears look like mine,” Rey smiled. Maybe she did see him through the Force. Maybe she imagined someone who wasn't him. 

 

“They do.” She said. “They really do, sweetie.”


	2. putting on a brave face

 

The next time Vi’Ra came to Ben, he had a nightmare about the time that Hux had nearly killed him. “You have a lot of nightmares.” She said. “Why?” He didn’t know how to answer her, but he was glad that she was here. 

 

“I have a lot of bad things to have nightmares about,” He said. Vi’Ra’s face twisted into a small grimace and she sat down. 

 

“My mom says the same thing,” Vi’Ra said. She fidgeted a little, and Kylo sat down next to her. “You’re my dad, aren’t you?” She asked. He was real quiet for a minute before he finally said, 

 

“I am.”

 

“I knew it,” She grinned, Kylo smiled. He never thought he would have a hand in something so beautiful in his life. “You look a little like me.”

 

“I think you have more of your mother’s looks. Thank goodness.” She hit him in the side of the leg. “Ow, what was that for?” 

 

“My mom said that you didn’t like the way you looked, and I said that was stupid because you helped make me and I’m adorable, so that’s for being stupid.”  _ Damn, this kid was just like her mother.  _

 

“I guess I deserved that.” He looked down at her. She had long wavy brown hair that was tucked behind her ears.  _ Those ears were definitely his.  _ And that smile—it just made everything so much more real. 

 

“Did you know about me?” Kylo shook his head no and Vi’Ra nodded. “You would have come home sooner if you knew about me, right?” 

 

“Of course, kid. Of course.” 

 

“Will you come home now?” 

 

“I don’t know where you are, kid.” 

 

There was that same grimace. “I don't either.” She admitted. “My mom said that the only reason she hasn’t told me was so other force users wouldn’t try to pull the information from my head and come attack us.”  _ So that Kylo wouldn’t find them and take them.  _

 

“That's smart,” He said. “Your mom’s cautious. That’s good.”  _ Kylo made her cautious.  _

 

“I think she’s too cautious. I haven’t even been off planet before.” 

“Really?” 

 

“Yeah,” She said. “I’m trying to get her to take me off planet for my fifth birthday and she keeps saying that she’ll think about it. I think that’s code for no, but if I keep asking she’ll have to say yes eventually.”

 

Kylo laughed. “Great logic there.” 

“I know,” She said. 

  
  


When Kylo woke up, his mother was making him breakfast. She did it every morning and he knew why, but that didn’t stop him from telling her each morning that she really didn’t need to do that. This morning was no different, “You know, as the Leader of the Universe, I think I can make my own breakfast.”

 

“Yeah, yeah.” Leia blew him off. “I’m sure you can hotshot,” She had a glass of water waiting for him already and he took it gratefully, wondering if he should tell Leia about the girl. 

 

He did. 

 

“I think I know why Rey left,” He said. She stopped. 

“You still miss her don’t you?”

 

“I do,” He said. “But I think she left because she was pregnant.”

 

“What ?” He waited for his mom to look him in the eye. “What are you talking about?” 

 

“When she and I were—force bonding and everything—we did some stupid stuff and I didn't know if… anyways I have a kid.”

 

“Did Rey open the force bond again?”

 

“No, actually.” He said. “The kid did. Her name is Vi’Ra and she about to turn five and she’s strong with the Force already and I didn't know about her until two nights ago.”

  
  


Rey prided herself on being able to adapt to anything. She was great at cultivating fruits and vegetables and she was getting better at cooking everyday. Vi’Ra was such a patient taste tester too.

 

Today was different. Vi’Ra was out in the garden with Rey when she said, “I want to go off planet.”    

 

“Right,” Rey said. She was watering some plants and Vi'Ra was helping resoil some carrots that she had just harvested. 

 

“I want to go see dad,” Vi’Ra said. Rey tensed. “And don’t tell me I wasn’t really talking to him because I know I was.”

 

“I don’t know where your dad is,” Rey said. “I can’t exactly take you to see him if I don’t know where he is.”

 

“I’ll find out tonight.” Rey sighed when Vi’Ra said that. “What?”

 

“I think you’re getting your hopes up about your dad.” She said. “Just be cautious, okay?”

 

“But you said you missed daddy,” 

 

“I did.”

 

“And you said you want to see him again, don’t you?” Rey was silent and Vi’Ra was left waiting for an answer. “ _ Mom,”  _ The force seemed to fluctuate between them as Rey waivered, trying to force down her emotions. 

 

“It depends.” She said. 

“What do you mean it depends?”

 

“It depends on if he changed or not,” Rey finished tending to the garden and grabbed her basket. Vi’Ra followed her inside. 

 

“What do you mean? He seemed really nice when I talked to him.” 

 

“That’s great,” Rey said. Vi’Ra got real quiet after that, probably figuring that now was not the time to ask about her dad anymore than she already had. She was a smart kid. Vi’Ra helped her with dinner, getting distracted in the middle by her colors. The two of them ate and Rey told her about the time she saw the color green for the first time. For some reason Vi’Ra always liked that story. She didn’t know why. After that, it never took much to get Vi’Ra to bed. She always got tired about twenty minutes after dinner. Rey made her take a bath and then she tucked her in. 

 

Rey stayed up for a little bit longer, she’d been working on one of Vi’Ra’s birthday presents for a while, a little stuffed Wookie. She was obsessed with Wookies and Porgs, probably due to the fact that the only time she had seen them was in holos and books. 

 

Vi’Ra would get to see them both up close one day. It was just a question of when. 

* * *

  
  


Vi’Ra always found her father through dreams. She didn’t know how, but she did. The Force would always present doors to her,  _ pick any door.  _ It would say. But she always picked the last one. The one that eventually lead her to find him. 

  
  


“Where do you live?” Was the first thing she asked. 

“New Alderaan,” He said.

 

“New, what?”

 

“Alderaan.”

 

“What’s that?”

 

“It’s a planet,” He said. “The original Alderaan was destroyed by my grandfather. I wanted to rebuild it so I did.” As he talked, Vi’Ra could envision the coordinates in her head clear as day. “We started terraforming recently.” 

 

“What’s terraforming?” 

 

“It’s when you put plants on a station or some place in space where there generally aren’t plants.” 

 

“Oh,” Vi’Ra said. “That’s so cool.” 

 

“It really is,”  He smiled. 

 

“I bet mom would love it there,” She said. “She loved plants. Green is her favorite color.” 

 

“I know,” He said. “I think she would like it here.” 

 

“Do you think we could go there some time so we could visit you?” Kylo looked a little sad. Vi’Ra didn’t know why. 

 

“You’d have to ask your mom.” 

 

“Well doesn’t she want to see you? Of course, she’s going to want to go.” He bit his lip, probably thinking of what to say next. Vi’Ra didn’t know why he didn’t just agree with her, she was right, Rey would want to go to see him again. Then they could all have a home together and her mom wouldn’t be sad anymore, and Vi’Ra would be happy. 

 

“Don’t get your hopes up, kid.” He said. That’s the same thing that her mom said about him. “I would love to see you both, I really want to meet you, but I messed up with your mom.”  He bit his lip, waiting for Vi’Ra’s reaction. She didn’t know why, but she was pretty sure he expected her to be mad at him for that. She really wasn’t. Her mom told her that everyone made mistakes, that no one was perfect. She learned that when she was three and accidentally broke a toy that her mom had asked her to take care of. 

 

“What did you do that was so bad?” She said. “I mean, you seem really nice.” 

 

“I wasn’t always that way,” He told her. 

 

“Well, you’re nice now and that’s all that matters.” She told him. That’s where the dream ended. She was awoken by the sound of her mother screaming. She ripped the covers off her and ran to the room next to hers. She already knew the dream that her mother had. She dreamt that someone had come to take Vi’Ra away, or some variation of that. Vi’Ra used the Force to unlock the door, running to her mother’s side and shaking her until she woke up. 

 

“Hey, it wasn’t real, mommy.” 

 

“Sorry, did I wake you up?” She was bleary eyed and looked like she wanted to cry, but she was putting on a brave face for her. 

 

“Yeah,” Vi’Ra told her. “But it’s okay.” She motioned for her mother to move over and she did. Vi’Ra climbed up on the bed and her mother wrapped her arms around her. She seemed to breathe more evenly now that she was right next to her. 

 

“Sorry,” Rey said again.

 

“It’s okay,” Vi’Ra said. “Nightmares are bad.” 

 

“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” 

 

“Probably be sad.” Vi’Ra told her. Rey snorted a little and told her that she was right. It wasn’t long before her mother had drifted back to sleep with her in her arms. Vi’Ra tried too. She went back to her dad. 

 

“Where’d you go?” He said. 

 

“Mom was having a nightmare,” Vi’Ra explained. “I just fell back asleep,” 

 

“Does your mother know you can talk to me?” He asked. Vi’Ra nodded. 

 

“Can she do the same thing that we’re doing?” 

 

“Yeah,” He answered. 

 

“Then why hasn’t she done it? Why doesn’t she just do that and find out where you are and come to see you?” 

 

“Because, like I said earlier, I’ve done some bad things and I messed up a lot with her. I wouldn’t see me if I had the chance either.” Vi’Ra bit her lip, wondering if she should tell her dad about all the stories her mom would tell her about how wonderful he was, and how he didn’t see how much she loved him. She didn’t sound mad at him when she told her those stories. She sounded like she wanted him to come back so badly, and Vi’Ra wanted him to come back. Not just so she could finally meet him, but because she didn’t want her mom to be sad anymore. She hated when she was sad. 

 

“Can you tell me what you did?” Vi’Ra wanted to know. “What bad things you did?” 

 

“You wouldn’t want to know me after I told you.” 

 

“Not true!” Vi’Ra said. “One time my mom told me I couldn’t have candy but I still forgave her. I don’t think you can get much worse than that.” Kylo laughed, and it was warm and deep like a laugh that Vi’Ra thought a father should have. She smiled. “Will you tell me?” That’s when his face fell. 

 

“Ever since I was a kid,” He said, “there was someone telling me that I wasn’t good enough.” 

 

“Well they were wrong,” She sat down next to him again, staring him straight in his big brown eyes. “You are good enough.” 

 

“Thanks,” The faint smile on his lips almost gave him dimples. Vi’Ra was mesmerised. She felt like she understood why Mom liked him so much. “Anyways, that voice was always there.” Vi’Ra imagined that that would get kind of annoying, constantly having someone insulting you. But if someone was insulting her, she would just kick them in the stomach, “And I believed it.” 

 

“Why? That’s dumb.” 

 

“It is.” He said. 

 

“Did you tell the voice that they needed to grow up and get a life?” 

 

“I should have, that’s a good idea. I’ll have to remember that next time. I um—when  I was young, I was at this school that my uncle taught, and he heard that voice that was always telling me I was bad, and he started to believe it too. So he tried to kill me.” 

 

“That’s rude.” 

 

“It was.” His breath was shaky, maybe Vi’Ra should tell him that she didn’t need him to tell her anymore. “And uh, it sent me on this really bad path. I was angry at everything. I believed in this voice and did bad things because I thought that the voice was right. I thought that I was a bad person and deserved to suffer and be sad.” She wanted to tell him that he wasn’t a bad person, how could he be bad when he made her? But she decided that she had interrupted him enough. “And then your mom came along,” That sadness turned into something else on his face. A happy gleam in his eye that was so subtle that it was almost impossible to catch. “And she was fierce and stubborn but also really optimistic.” That sounded like her. “She showed me that the way that I was thinking was dumb. And I didn’t believe her. I didn’t take the chance that I had to go with her. Instead I chose something bad because I thought that I was still bad and I didn’t deserve her.” 

 

“But you do,” Vi’Ra said. “You deserve her and she deserves you.” 

 

“She deserves more than me,” He told her. “She deserves everything.” 

 

“Aren’t you rich? Can’t you give her everything?” 

 

“Material things and everything are two different things.” 

 

“Huh?” 

 

Kylo laughed nervously. “My point is I thought that I wasn’t good enough for her. I still don’t. But when I realised she was gone, I got lonely again, I started thinking those bad things that that voice would tell me again. And I started being really sorry for myself for a while. I thought that it was your mom who left me, when really it was the other way around.” He paused. Vi’Ra wondered why he thought that Mom had left him. She didn’t ask though. “Then a bad guy came,” 

 

“Was it that red head in your dreams?” 

 

“Yes,” He  said. “Him. He tried to kill me, and I remembered thinking, this is it. I was never going to see your mom again, and I would never get to tell her I’m sorry. Because I am, I am really sorry. I was scared, really scared. But I think that helped me out. Because as I was thinking of all the things that I wanted to say to Rey, of all the things that I wanted to do to show her that I was really going to try and be a better person for her, I realised that I didn’t want to accept the fact that this bad guy was trying to kill me, and I got rid of him.” Vi’Ra was mesmerised by that. He must’ve really loved her mom if just the thought of her saved his life. “And then I did all the things that I knew your mother would do in the hopes that she would see it and come back to me. But I realised that that was selfish, and I started doing things because I was different. I wanted to make sure people didn’t hurt or suffer the same ways that I did. It took a long time to think like that but I eventually did.” 

 

“You’re a good person.” Vi’Ra said. “You put that much thought into being nice to everyone and doing things better, that makes you good. Even if you did bad things. Even when you did do bad things it was because a voice made you sad and angry. Not because you were really a bad person, I think mom knows that. Maybe she just forgot. I’ll remind her though.” Their dream ended there.

 

* * *

  
  


“Are you sure that this kid with the force you’re talking to is yours, dude?” Finn asked. Kylo rolled his eyes as he sipped on his coffee. 

 

“How many Rey’s with the Force do you know?”  _ One.  _ “I was skeptical at first but her Force signature is nearly identical to Rey’s.”

 

“I just can’t believe Rey wouldn’t tell me that she was pregnant. We were friends. She trusted me.”

 

“Evidently she didn’t.” Rose handed Finn an extra muffin she had gotten from the Cafe near their office. “I wouldn't blame her though, we were all at war. I wouldn’t want to raise a kid like that.”

 

“Yeah but still— ”

 

“It wasn’t you she was worried about,” Kylo interjected. “It was me. If I wasn’t the father, she wouldn’t have gone into hiding. Vi’Ra would have been an excellent bargaining chip to use against me and both Poe or Hux would have been happy to use her.”

 

“Don’t speak ill of the dead.” Finn told him. He knew it was true though. Poe would’ve used Vi’Ra in a heartbeat. 

 

“Is she cute?” Rose not so subtley changed the subject. “I always thought you two would make good babies.”

 

“Rose,”

 

Kylo chuckled. “Thanks. She is. Real stubborn too.”

 

“Oh so she's like her mother,”

 

“Yep,”

 

“Having a mini-Rey running around would be terrifying. And she's good with the Force? Your baby is a badass and she’s what, five?”

 

“Four and a half, apparently.”

 

“Damn,”

 

“Usually kids don’t wake with the Force until around ten, so I’m glad she’s got that out of the way. I just… I don’t know why I didn’t sense her sooner.”

 

“Because Rey did some weird Jedi magic trick.” Finn said. “Like a cloaking device or something.”

 

“Must’ve. But why keep it up so long? The war’s been over for two years.”

 

“Maybe she doesn’t know? Remote planet and all.” It must’ve been that. 

* * *

 

_ Four Years Ago _

 

Rey was six months pregnant the first time Luke came to her. “You called?” That pissed Rey off more than anything. 

 

“Have been for the last six months,” She was tending to traps she made to get some food. “Thanks for being so punctual,” The Jedi laughed, and then got real quiet. He realized she was crying. 

 

“Sorry,” He said. “It seems I keep disappointing you.” Luke stared at her for a while. “You’re scared.” She nodded. “That’s okay.” He told her. “Normal even. But you’re going to be okay,”

 

“I don’t know how to be a mom.”

 

“Leia didn’t know how to either,” Luke said. 

 

“Not helping! Her kid turned out to be a mass murderer,” 

 

“If it helps, my dad was a mass murderer and I turned out okay. But that’s not the point. You’re going to be a great mom. You’re smart and compassionate and you do what you believe in. That’s everything you need to be a good mother.”

 

“I miss him,”

 

“He misses you too.” Luke told her.

 

“Have you talked to him?” Luke nodded. 

 

“I won’t tell him about this. If you don’t want me to.” She didn’t. “He’s angry. He says you’re the one that left him.” Rey grabbed the meats she had gathered from her traps into a bag and started walking back to her house. Walking was harder now. She felt like she was waddling. 

 

“That’s not what happened.”

 

“I know, kid. I know. Forgive my nephew, he can be stupid sometimes. But I’ll work on him. He'll be okay.”

 

“How can you promise that?”

 

“Because I did.” He said. “And for once, I'm not going to fail him. I won’t fail you either.”

 

“Do you know when I’m supposed to give birth?” She asked. “And how to tell?”

 

“Two months left,” he said. “And your water will break. It'll hurt and you'll know.”

 

“Great,” she said. “Just great,”

 

“Have you ever considered getting in touch with Maz?” Luke said. “She knows how to deliver babies. She can help.”

 

“I'll have to think about it.” Rey said. Luke was about to go when Rey said, “Can you stay? I don't have anyone to talk to.”

 

“I can, child,” He did. Luke stayed until Rey was asleep, listening to her talk about all her fears and telling her things to calm her down. She appreciated that more than anything.

  
  
  



	3. but, mom

.

“How many times do I have to say the coordinates before we go to New Alderaan?” Vi’Ra asked. It was pretty clear that her mom had resorted to ignoring her when she kept asking her when they would go see her dad, and Vi’Ra really didn’t like that. She was going to get an answer out of her eventually, and it wasn’t going to be a no. “ _ You should take me to New Alderaan,” _

 

“Nice try,” Rey said. “That doesn’t work on me though.”

 

“I'll do all the chores ever for the rest of my life.” Vi’Ra told her. “I’ll even cook!”

 

“You’d set the house on fire,” Rey was scrubbing furiously at a dirty plate. 

 

“Why is that a bad thing? Explosions are cool.”

 

“And very dangerous.”

 

“Yeah, yeah.” Vi’Ra brought out her colors and started drawing a picture of a Wookie. “I want to see a Wookie. And Dad.” 

 

“I told you I would think about it.”

 

“I wanna go see him now.” 

 

“We can’t go now, Vi’Ra.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Because…” She was thinking. “Because it usually rains a lot around this time. Flying isn’t safe when the weather is bad.” That was a good enough excuse, Vi’Ra guessed. But it wouldn’t be an excuse that her mom could use forever. 

 

“Can we go when the weather is good?”

 

“I’ll think about it,”

 

“You mean, yes. We will go.” 

 

“No, we won’t—I mean maybe. And even if we do, I’m only going to let you see a Wookie.”

 

“Aw mom, why not Dad?”

 

“Because he’s probably busy.” Rey said. “And our ship is old so we only have enough fuel for one trip,”

 

“Can’t we get a new one there?”

 

“I don’t have much money,” Rey admitted. “Ships cost credits.” 

 

“Well can’t we ask dad for some?”

 

“What are you coloring?” Change of subject. Vi’Ra hated when her mom did that. She knew what was going on. “A wookie, and then I'm gonna add a porg and a flower.”

 

“Nice,”  

 

_ “I wanna see dad.”  _

 

“And I want a better mattress. We can’t all have what we want, Vi’Ra.”

 

“I don’t understand why you’re being like this.  You love daddy right? You want him to come back, right? You know where he is now, we can go to him.”

“Vi’Ra, it’s nap time.” 

 

“You’re only saying that because you want me to stop talking. I want to see Dad.” 

 

Rey won that argument. Vi’Ra went to go take a nap. 

* * *

 

This time was different. Kylo wasn’t asleep when he saw Vi’Ra. The Von Neumman supernova was happening and Kylo was watching it from his private viewing tower on New Alderaan when the Force fluctuated and opened between the two of them. Kylo turned around to see a little girl kicking her feet on the long bench that he had. It was meant for four people. He was the only one that ever used it. “What’re you doing?” He asked. 

 

“Pretending to take a nap.” She whispered. 

 

“You should be taking a nap right now.” He said. “Do what your mom said.” He really wanted her to stay, but he didn’t think Rey would be too happy with him undermining her authority.  Vi’Ra pouted and then looked out the window. 

 

“What’s that?” She asked. 

 

“The Von Neumman supernova,” Kylo sat down next to her. 

 

“What’s a supernova?” 

 

“It’s an exploding star.” Kylo told her. “It’s a long ways away from here, there’s a microscope somewhere in this tower that’s making it look really big on that screen right there.” Vi’Ra’s eyes widened and the Force seemed to strengthen the connection between them. Kylo couldn’t see Vi’Ra’s surroundings, but she could see his. She took her eyes off him for a second, and touched him. It was a slight poke. The way a child would poke something when they weren’t sure if it was real or not. She wasn’t really here with him, but he felt it clear as day. 

 

“How did I do that?” She asked. Kylo didn’t know how she could be there right now, how she was able to touch him through the Forcebond just like he was once able to touch Rey. She was too young to be that strong with the Force.

 

“I don’t know,” Kylo’s mind was racing. Vi’Ra looked at her father warily before she tried to hug him. Her fingers passed through him and Kylo felt cold for a second.

 

“Dang it.” She muttered. She started kicking her feet back and forth more and more. “I told Mommy about New Alderaan,” She didn’t look at him, she was looking down. 

 

“And?” 

 

“And she said that we can’t go right now because of really bad weather, but I think she’s just using it as an excuse to not go.” Kylo was new at this dad thing, he didn’t know what to say that would make her feel better. Winging it would just have to do. 

 

“I thought that that might happen.” He grimaced, “That’s okay, though. It’s understandable. I really hurt your mom. If she doesn’t want to see me, then maybe it’s best that you just let it rest?” Vi’Ra obviously didn’t like that answer. She understood it though. “At least we can talk this way, you know. Anyway that I get to see you is a blessing to me.” 

 

“I asked her if she still loved you and she said yes,” Vi’Ra told him. “Then I asked her why she didn’t want to go and she got mad at me. That’s why I’m in nap time, because mom doesn’t give me a time out unless I do something really really bad.” 

 

“I’m sorry, kid. I don’t know what to say,” 

 

“You don’t have to say anything.” Vi’Ra told him. “I just want to stay with you.” 

 

“That’s okay.” He told her. “We can watch the supernova together.” She didn’t stay for long though. Kylo could hear the sound of a door opening and hear her voice drift through the bond. 

 

_ “Hey, can we talk?”  _ Vi’Ra gave Kylo one last smile before she disappeared. 

* * *

 

When Rey became a mother, she knew the day that there would be a day where she would have to face Kylo again with their child next to her. She just didn't think it would be so soon.

 

When Vi’Ra had told her that she was in contact with Kylo, Rey didn’t know what to think. She had been so ready to accept the fact that Kylo wasn’t going to come back to her, and then this happened. Not to mention that by what Vi’Ra told her, she wasn’t scared of him.  _ He’s not scary anymore.  _

 

He’s not bad anymore. 

 

Rey wanted to believe that so much, but there was something in her that was telling her not to. Kylo hurt her. All he would ever do is hurt her. As Vi’Ra napped, Rey realised that even if she wasn’t going to trust Kylo, she couldn’t deprive her daughter of a chance to at least meet her father. “Can we talk?” She asked her when she decided that she could get back up again. Vi’Ra nodded, “I just wanted to say that when your fifth birthday rolls around, we can go to New Alderaan.” Vi’Ra’s eyes lit up. “I am not going out of my way to find your dad.” She told her. “If we run into him, you can meet him. If we don’t. We don’t. Okay? Is that okay?” 

 

“Yeah,” She said. “That’s great. Thank you mommy. I know that you don’t want to see him again because you’re scared, but it’ll be okay.” She wrapped her arms around Rey’s legs. “I’m sorry for making you mad earlier. Even though I was right.” 

 

“That’s enough.” Rey picked her up in her arms and kissed her cheek, running her to the couch before laying her down to tickle her. 

 

“Mommy no!” 

 

“Mommy yes,” Rey said. “That’s what you get for being sassy, Miss.” 

 

“Noooo—” Vi’Ra was giggling so hard that she was turning pink, and Rey stopped tickling her. 

 

“Okay I’m done.” 

 

“Awe, mom.” 

 

“You want more?” 

 

“Yeah,” 

 

“Oh you’re gonna regret that.” 

 

Vi’Ra let out a little scream and started running down the hallway. Rey was glad to chase her, to stop thinking about what she was going to do. 


	4. not so happy reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which everyone gets back together, but Rey feels that old anger she felt towards Kylo come back.

It had been two months and Vi’Ra couldn’t wait for next week, she had packed everything and asked her Mom how many days were left. Three more days were left. She would tell her Father in her dreams that the two of them were coming. She had been trying to keep it a surprise for such a long time, so long that she felt like she was going to burst at the seams waiting to tell him. He was there, waiting for her. 

 

“Dad, Dad, Dad guess what?” He looked tired, even though he was dreaming right now. And a little bit sad, Vi’Ra wondered if she had interrupted another nightmare about Mom. Then she looked around her. There was snow everywhere. He was lying in the snow, unconscious.  But he was right in front of her too, and he looked fine. “Is this the fight that you and Mom had?” 

 

“The first one,” He admitted. “God, I was so stupid back then.” 

 

“Why are you bleeding?” 

 

“Your mom won.” Vi’Ra felt like she was going to cry. She didn’t like seeing him like that. He seemed to remedy that by picking her up and turning her away from all the things in front of her, and she forgot about the nightmare she was looking at. “What were you going to tell me?” He asked. He was still carrying her and she buried her face in his shoulder. 

 

“I wanted to tell you that Mom finally said we could go to New Alderaan.” He put her down. 

 

“Really?” 

 

“Really! She said that we would go in three days. My birthday’s in three days and she said that we would go see the Wookie that she knows but she wasn’t going out of her way to see you but if you ‘just so happened to run into us’ she wouldn’t stop you from meeting me. So we can meet!” Her mouth was running so fast that she was pretty sure that her dad got lost somewhere along the way. 

 

“That’s awesome!” He said. “I’ll make sure that I have something ready for you.” 

 

“You don’t have to do that, meeting you is enough of a present.” 

 

“You’re too sweet, kid.” He knelt down beside her, “But tell me what you want for your birthday. Anything, I’ll get it for you.” 

 

“Uh, well Mom tried to teach me how to do calligraphy but we ran out of ink.” She said. “She went back to Luke’s island and grabbed it after everything ‘cus he kept it with him, but I used all the ink last year and she hasn’t been able to get more.” 

 

“Is that all you want?” 

 

“And some paper and colors. That’s all.” 

 

“Okay,” He said. “I can get that for you. No worries.” 

 

“You’re so nice, daddy. Thank you.” 

 

* * *

 

“What if I mess up?” Kylo had been over this with his therapist a thousand times in the past day, and now it was his turn to annoy his mom about this. “What if this kid becomes me?” 

 

“That’s not going to happen,” Leia said tiredly. “And if she became you, I would be extremely proud of her.” 

 

“Um are you sure—”

 

“Ben, you did some stupid things. But you realised your mistakes and you’re trying to atone for them, you started going to a therapist for fucksake, you’ll be a great father.” Kylo eyed her for a minute, hoping that she realised how much of a dumbass he had actually been every day of his life. 

 

“How the fuck do you wrap things?” 

 

“I can wrap the presents, if you want to.” Kylo let her take over. 

 

“Are you sure that she’s going to like these?” 

 

“Ben, you brought her the most expensive crayons and calligraphy set on the market. She’ll love them,” 

 

“Right,” He watched his mother wrap the presents without any effort whatsoever. “I just… I want… I never thought that I would be a dad, and I didn’t know about her and I want to make sure that everything goes over well and that she likes me and I just want to make sure that her birthday is perfect for her because this is the first birthday that I’m spending with her and—”  _ And Han was never there for his birthday.  _ That was the one thing that he had always wished that his hypothetical child would get that he wanted. A father that was there for every birthday. 

 

Of course, he missed the first four. But that wasn’t his fault. He didn’t even know that she was born until recently. At first, after Ben had found out about Vi’Ra, he had been conflicted. Part of him wanted to go back to his old reaction to things. He wanted to be angry, he wanted to lash out, but the first thing he did was go and talk to his therapist about his feelings. “You’re telling me this child was born four years ago,” She had said. 

 

“Yes,” 

 

“Isn’t that when you were still making bad decisions that were hurting everyone around you?” 

 

“Yes.” Kylo had answered truthfully. 

 

“So let’s look at this from Rey’s point of view, we have a trouble dictator for a father. Someone she loves dearly but is dangerous at this point in time. She’s pregnant, staying at the Resistance means that they could use that child as leverage against you. Going to you is dangerous because you tried to strike her ship down on Crait, and she didn’t know if you were in the right headspace to be a father. Frankly, you weren’t, and you knew that.” She was right. “So Rey took herself out of the situation. And she didn’t come back because she doesn’t know the war’s over. She decided to live peacefully with her daughter on a planet very far from here where she could raise her and she wouldn’t be in the spotlight. It makes sense.” It did. “The best thing that you can do now is be as understanding and empathetic as you possibly can be. And you can do that. You’re a good person, Kylo. You really are. It can just be a little hard sometimes.” 

 

Kylo remembered her advice and took it to heart. Now he was starting to panic though. Today was the day that the both of them would be arriving, and everything had to be perfect. He had devised a plan with Finn, Rose, Jess, Chewie, and Leia to intercept them while he put the finishing touches on Vi’Ra’s cake. They would run interference until he could come down and meet his daughter. What was he going to say to Rey though? I’m sorry? He wanted to say I’m sorry over and over and over again, he had pounded against the walls that she had put up between the two of them, he wanted to let her know for so long that he regretted what he did to her. But now that she was actually going to be right there in front of him? What was going to happen? 

 

“Ben, you’re shaking.” 

 

“Sorry,” He told Leia. “I had a lot of coffee.” 

 

“Poor thing,” She said. “Calm down. We’re going to go out to the docks and wait for them. Everything’s going to be fine.” Kylo didn’t believe her. But he put on a smile. There was nothing else he could do. 

* * *

 

New Alderaan was certainly impressive to Rey, it was a green and luscious planet. But it wasn’t really a planet. It was a biosphere. Rey had only heard about the things in myths, but this was one of them. It was a self sustaining, green spaceship. Like a friendly version of Star Killer, but a lot friendlier and a lot busier looking. “Wow,” Vi’Ra was marvelling at everything outside the ship’s window. “This is cool!” 

 

“I guess it is,” Rey smiled and turned on her radio. “Can you be quiet for mommy? I need to figure out where the best place to land the ship is.” Vi’Ra knitted her eyebrows really tight and nodded, making a big bubble to keep air between her cheeks. Rey waited for the signal and gave her number and name. 

 

“We have Orders from the Supreme Leader to let you come through the first hatch about twelve clicks to the left.” The navigator on the other side of the line said. “From there we will have people make sure you two have a great time on New Alderaan! If you need any more help landing please press number four on your comms system.” No one else was landing in the first hatch, but it was open for her ship. Closing behind it. 

 

“Okay,” Rey said. “We’re here.” She didn’t want to get off the ship, but Vi’Ra was practically bouncing in her seat. “You can open your mouth now.” 

 

“Yaaay that was so hard mom. Don’t make me do that again.” 

 

“I’m sure it was exhausting.” Rey rolled her eyes and unstrapped from her seat. “We have a few rules, okay?” 

 

“Yes, ma’am.” 

 

“You stay by my side at all times.” Rey said. “You don’t let go of my hand. You don’t run off. You don’t talk to strangers. You don’t say anything mean to anyone. Okay?” 

 

“When am I mean?” 

 

“I don’t mean that necessarily. Just don’t give attitude to people. Okay? We might run into my other friends and I want you to be on your best behavior.” 

 

“I will.” She said. “I’m a big girl now because I’m this many.” She held up five fingers, and Rey smiled. 

 

“You are. So you’re going to act great. No doubt.” Rey grabbed Vi’Ra’s hand, trying to push down the feeling of nausea in her stomach. 

 

“Can we grab my toys? I wanted to show them to Dad.” 

 

“You can grab a few. But you can’t lose them, hold on to them for dear life. Okay?” 

 

“Okay!” 

 

“We can come back and grab more later if we have to. Right now just a few. We have to find our way through this place.” Vi’Ra let go of Rey’s hand to go get her pack with two or three of her toys in it. Then she came back, the two of them were ready to go. 

* * *

 

Rey didn’t know what she was expecting. But she certainly wasn’t expecting for Leia and Finn to be waiting for her as soon as she stepped off the ship with Vi’Ra. Finn was first. He was sitting on  one of the crates of ship parts when she saw him, and he perked up almost immediately. “Is that Rey and a little mini-Rey I see with her?” Rey was a little bit uneasy. She thought that Finn would’ve been mad at her for leaving. He didn’t look mad at all. He ran up to hug her and he nearly knocked her over. Rey hugged him with one arm while clenching Vi’Ra’s little hand in the other. “Hey,” She said. “Fancy seeing you here.” 

 

“Long time no see.” Vi’Ra was hiding behind Rey, tugging at her tunic. 

 

“Can I talk now?” 

 

“Yes,” Rey said. “This is my friend that I told you about, Finn.” 

 

“Oh,” Vi’Ra walked out from behind him and stuck out her hand at him. “My name is Vi’Ra, I’m five years old today, and I want to meet a Wookie and my Dad. Do you know a Wookie? Or my Dad? Either one would work.” Rey just shook her head, watching as Finn’s eyes widened. He was grinning ear to ear. 

 

“I know both actually.” 

 

“Really! That’s great! You should take me to them!” 

 

“That’s the plan.” He said. “Hey, Vi’Ra.” 

 

“Yes?” 

 

“You’re really cute.” 

 

“I know.” She said. “Both my parents are adorable, of course I’m cute.” 

 

“Your kid is the best.” 

 

“I know,” Rey grabbed Vi’Ra’s hand again and the two of them started walking from the docks into a hallway. Several people passed by. They all seemed happy, but busy. Saying hi as they passed in the hallways.”So,” Rey said. “It looks like a lot has changed.” 

 

“Yeah.” Finn told her. “A lot has.” 

 

“Most of it good?” 

 

“Most of it good.” Finn said. “There’s a lot to talk about, maybe a bit later, yeah?” 

 

“Yeah,” That made Rey feel somewhat anxious. “So you’re working with Ren now?” 

 

“Yeah, believe it or not, he’s a good boss when there’s not an evil alien making him depressed and moody all the time. He’s a good friend too.” Friends. Finn and Kylo were friends. Rey really did miss a lot. She supposed that she should be grateful though. She didn’t want them to be trying to kill each other all the time. 

“What about Poe?” Rey asked. 

 

“Uh.. Poe passed away.” Rey’s stomach dropped. 

 

“Oh my goodness, Finn. I’m so sorry—” 

 

“We can talk about it later.” He told her. “It’s your daughters birthday, man. We have to celebrate.” 

 

That’s when Rey saw Leia next, the other person she thought would be mad at her leaving. And yet, here she was. With that same kind smile on her face. Rey forgot how much she had missed her. “Am I hallucinating or is the Last Jedi and her daughter walking my way?” She coughed. “Excuse me. My granddaughter.” Vi’Ra took it in stride. 

 

“That’s my grandma?” She whispered. 

 

“Yeah,” 

 

“GRANDMA!” Vi’Ra shouted. She let go of Rey and ran towards Leia, practically slamming into her. “You’re so pretty. Hi.” 

 

“Oh my goodness. You’re strong, aren’t you?” She lifted the girl with ease as Rey and Finn caught up to her.  “Your name is Vi’Ra.” 

 

“How did you know that?” 

 

“My son talks about you a lot.” She said. “He said that you were really cute and really strong with the Force. He was right wasn’t he?” Rey stood to the side awkwardly. Watching Vi’Ra marvel at Leia. She couldn’t blame her. That was her reaction to Leia too. Vi’Ra giggled and Leia set her back down, turning to Rey. 

 

“Rey,” She had her arms wide open for her. “It’s so good to see you again.” 

 

“It’s so good to see you again too.” She embraced Leia, feeling some sort of normalcy. “Goodness you give the best hugs.” 

 

“I know.” Leia said. “You know, you could’ve told me about the fact that I had a grandkid earlier. Not getting any younger, you know?” Rey went red. 

 

“I’m so sorry about that.” 

 

“It’s okay.” Leia shrugged it off. “I’m just giving you a hard time, kid. Relaх.”  Rey felt a little more relieved, but not by much. They took a car to the Capitol building. A tall ivory building in the middle of the biosphere. There was towns and cities and stores everywhere. Everything seemed so cheery as they rode along. Rey’s head was spinning. 

 

Leia struck up a conversation with Vi’Ra, and since she seemed fully distracted, Finn must’ve found that as a good time to talk to Rey. “This must be weird for you, huh?” 

 

“Yeah,” Rey laughed nervously. “I have no idea what’s going on, to be honest.”

 

“It’s okay.” He told her. “Long story short, this all happened because Kylo saved our lives.” 

* * *

  
  


_ Three and A Half Years Ago _

 

Kylo was laughing. “I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to do now. I mean you’re all here. I could wipe out the Resistance.”

 

“You’re never going to wipe out the Resistance!” Finn shouted. “Rey’s still out there and she’ll find out what you did.” That name seemed to be the only thing to get through to him. Kylo was sitting ontop of a throne, his hand clenched.

 

“You’re rather annoying, Traitor.” Kylo told him. “Next time let me finish my sentence. I was going to say, that if we can work out an agreement, I won’t kill you.” His mother looked up, her eyes full of hope. 

 

“Yeah, no way in hell we’ll agree to anything where you benefit out of it. You belong in jail.” Poe shouted. Kylo held up a hand to choke him but stopped himself. Leia muttered something about not testing his luck to Poe. 

 

“You’re right, mother. He really shouldn’t test his luck. That’s dumb. Remind me why you made him your replacement son again?” 

 

“Ben!” Leia was about to surge forward but two stormtroopers stopped her. 

 

“What?” He looked mocked offended. “I’m only saying the truth. He’s your replacement me. A good pilot. Smart. Funny. Handsome. A good soldier. I think you knew that I was going to be a disappointment and just started early with him.”

 

“If you really think that about your mom, maybe I am a better son than you.”

 

“Excuse me, did I allow you to speak?” Somehow he kept his voice level. Even though Finn was sure that he had nearly lost his temper four times since this meeting had begun. “No. I didn’t.”

 

“Rey told me something before she left.” It was a longshot. 

 

“Finn, what are you doing?” Rose hissed. “Nows not the time—”

 

Kylo narrowed his eyes. “Speak.” Finn moved forward a little. 

 

“She told me about how Snoke abused you.” He said. “And at first I didn’t want to believe it, because the troopers were also brainwashed the same way that you were.” Kylo was about to say something, but then closed his mouth. “And she told me about the fact that she saw something good in you, and if Rey saw something good in you, that means there’s good in you.” He moved forward again. Kylo motioned for the stormtroopers to back off. “And I know that it’s hard and I know you’re angry and I would be angry too. I was angry when I got out. I thought you were the enemy. And I took it out on you, I made you the villain, when the villains were Snoke and Hux. They were the bad guys. They both put us through a ton of shit. We can work something out and you can do really good with your power, we can end— ” 

 

That’s when the room exploded. When Finn woke up, Kylo was looking down at him. “Good, you’re awake.” He was hiding amongst the smog. “Don’t make me regret healing you. Be quiet.” Finn nodded and got up. Everything ached. He was covered in ash. His mind went to Rose first. Then Poe. Oh god where were they? 

 

Kylo found Rose first. She was okay but her arm was bleeding. Kylo waved his hand and the wound closed up for the most part. Finn wanted to ask why he was being so nice to them all the sudden. And then he remembered why. 

 

Rey.

 

Kylo found Leia and was silently panicking. He could see it on her face. “Mom,” He whispered. It was a slow shaking whisper. Kylo cared. Finn had been right. “Mom, please wake up. I didn’t mean what I said. I’m sorry.”

 

It took a few seconds of coaxing but she woke up and Kylo let out a sigh of relief. “You need to be quiet.” He told her. “They’re airing out the room because Hux is too much of a diva to come in when there’s still ash in the air.”

 

Finn was trying to find Poe. He couldn't. Kylo did. Fin watched as he pulled him out for the rubble. He tried to use the Force. He tried to heal Poe. But Poe refused to let Kylo help him, and that’s how Poe died. 

 

That day was a lot longer than Finn thought it would be, and something happened that he never thought would. Hux shot Kylo first, and Finn thought that that was the end of it. They were all going to die and there was nothing he could do about it. Finn held Rose’s hand as Hux turned his blaster on Leia.

 

He was going to kill her, thinking that Kylo was surely dead, he had some big speech planned in the middle of everything that Finn wasn’t listening to. That’s when Kylo took his chance. Finn didn't know how, but he swore he killed Hux just by looking at him. 

* * *

 

“That sounds intense.” Rey said. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help the Resistance.”

“It’s okay,” He said. He looked over at Vi’Ra. “You had a pretty good reason to leave. I just wished that you had said goodbye.” Rey bit her lip. “Anyways, we’re here.” The Capitol building was a tall ivory structure that looked almost like a castle. Rey stepped out of the car. Chewie and Rose were there, waiting for everyone. 

 

“Is that a Wookie?” Vi’Ra asked quietly. 

 

“Yes,” Leia laughed. “His name’s Chewbacca.”

“Chew what?

 

“Just call him Chewie.”

 

“He looks fluffy.” Rey watched as Vi’Ra went up to hug him. “You’re really tall Mr. Chewie.” 

 

“ _ Rrrr.” _

 

_ “Aaarrgh!”  _ Vi’Ra shouted back at him. Finn laughed. 

 

“She’s very excitable.”

 

“I know,” Vi’Ra stopped listening to the adults as she and the Wookie seemed to have a very animated conversation. Apparently, he knew her dad too. They were all too busy talking outside of the Capitol building for Vi’Ra to realize the feeling of her father’s Force signature was getting stronger by the second. 

 

And then he was there. It was almost like he appeared out of nowhere. Vi’Ra stood there for a second, feeling all of her excitement bubble up inside her, threatening to make her explode. She ran towards him without saying anything and nearly knocked him down when she hugged him. She actually hugged her father. He was real and he was there in front of her. 

 

“Hi,” She looked up at him, still holding onto his legs. “You’re even taller in person.”

 

* * *

 

Kylo didn’t want to say that a three foot tall five year old nearly knocked him off his feet, but she did. He wasn’t sure what to say. What do you say to your kid that you didn’t know existed until two months ago? What do you say to the person whose heart you broke?

 

“Hey.” He picked Vi’Ra up and she giggled. “Wow you’re even more beautiful in person,” He was so nervous he would drop her that he held her tighter. She was so small. “I can’t believe I finally get to meet you.” He wanted to cry, he was so nervous. 

 

“It’s okay daddy,” She said. “Don’t be nervous. I’m glad I finally got meet you too.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and Kylo looked behind him. Rey was hanging back a little bit with Finn, Leia, Chewie, and Rose. She didn’t look happy. Kylo didn’t expect her to be happy, but her being there made him all the more nervous. 

* * *

  
  
  


Rey didn’t know what know how to act around Kylo. She said hi to him and then didn’t talk to him for the rest of the day. Vi’Ra’s birthday was great. He had planned everything out for her and gotten her some presents and a cake too. The two of them played and Rey just hung back. He seemed like he did change somewhat, but that didn’t make it easier to be there. 

 

When they finally got to their room and Rey was tucking Vi’Ra in she asked, “Why didn’t you talk to Dad more?” She didn’t know what to say, so she just told her that she needed to go to bed and asked her if she liked her birthday and her presents. When she was convinced Vi’Ra was asleep she went outside the door and turned around. There was a child lock on the door that Rey activated to make sure that she wouldn’t go anywhere unless she needed to go to the bathroom. 

 

Rey just needed a short walk to clear her head. She would be back in about thirty minutes. Of course, this ended up being the wrong thing to do. Kylo was waiting for her. “I needed to apologise.” She nearly jumped out of her skin. There was no place to go either. “Sorry.” He said. “How are you doing?” 

 

“Fine.” Rey gritted her teeth. “I’m doing fine. You?” 

 

“Great,” He said. “Thank you for trusting me enough to come here.” 

 

“I didn’t do it for you.” She told him. “I did it for Vi’Ra. She deserves to know who her father is.” She didn’t look him in the eye. She couldn’t. She looked down at his shoes instead. 

 

“That’s fair.” 

 

“Yes it is.” She said. “We’re going to go back home late tomorrow. I just need to work on the ship a little bit and then we’re going back.” 

 

“Why?” 

 

_ Why? _

 

__ “I think you know why,” She said. “And plus I have food that’s going to spoil if we stay here for much longer. It took two days to get here after all.” 

 

“I could send you back with more food and get someone to work on your ship for you. You two can stay longer. Like you said, she deserves to know who her father is.” Finally Rey looked at him again, she looked into those big brown eyes that she had fallen in love with four years ago. The ones she was still in love with. She felt him banging and pushing on the other side of the wall that she had put up in the Forcebond,  and she set her jaw. 

 

“We’re leaving tomorrow.” She said. “I’ll get the homing beacon from my ship and give it to you. But that’s all you're going to get from me. You can visit once a week, you can talk to Vi’Ra through the Force, but you are not going to talk to me—” 

 

“Rey—” 

 

“ — Everything that you’ve done here is great, I know, and thank you for saving my friends. That was good of you. But you’re not going to talk to me unless you absolutely need to. You are not going to try and contact me through the Force. And you will come to us if you want to visit. I am not having her stay here and be raised up in the spotlight. It’s dangerous that way. It fucks with kids psyche, you know that.” 

 

“Low blow.” 

 

“It’s the truth,” Rey told him. This panic attack that she had been keeping down before was starting to well up. Rey closed her eyes. “Don’t talk to me. You can say goodbye to her tomorrow and I won’t keep you from seeing her as long as you don’t do anything I deem as unsafe. But I don’t forgive you for what you did. And I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to.” 


	5. family day part one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey sorry i was struggling with the chapter sooo here have one half

Kylo had a dream about Rey after she and Vi’Ra left. But this was different. This was more like a memory. It was dark, and for a second he couldn’t see a thing. But he heard Rey breathing, and then struggling to get up. Then he looked to see the bars of a First Order prison, through the small lights that were shining down, he could see that she looked very, very pregnant. Eight months along. She looked like she was ready to pop at any second. She clung to the bars like she was about to be sick. “Sir,” She said. “I think my water just broke.” Kylo was about to be sick. 

The guard on the other side didn’t answer. “Sir, I need help.” The guard still didn’t answer, and he could see the expression shift to something that he never wanted to see. She was scared. The Force crackled to life under her fingertips, and the cell nearly split at the seams. When the dust cleared he saw Rey walking down the hall, her contractions were getting worse and worse and the Force seemed to be affected by it, killing everyone in proximity to her. 

 

It seemed like she was walking forever before she got to the medbay. Thank goodness it was empty. She locked the door and laid down on a cot. That’s when Kylo heard the most awful scream come from her, all the lights exploded around her, making the medbay completely black. The scene shifted. Rey was going through the hallway again, blood running down her legs, the pants she was wearing in her arms, she was using that as a sort of makeshift cloth to swathe the baby with. Baby Vi’Ra. 

  
  


“When are you coming to visit?” The memory crumbled and he turned to see Vi’Ra there, waiting patiently. “Tomorrow?” 

 

“You just left,” He said. 

 

“I know,” She replied. “But you have to come see me, I’ll miss you if you don’t, and I’ll be sad and you don’t want me to be sad, do you?” 

 

“I’ll visit soon kid,” He told her. “I have work I have to do, but it’ll be this week. I promise.” 

 

“You should visit everyday.” 

 

“I’ll visit when I can.” He told her. “I know where you are now, I’ll come over so much that you’ll get tired of me.” 

 

“That’ll never happen,” She told him. “I love you too much.” This time, they could hug through dreams. “I have to wake up now, but I’ll wait for you Dad.” She was about to go when she said, “Oh, and just so you know, Mommy actually really did miss you. She still does. She’s just mad. I don’t know why when she says that forgiving people is better for you than holding a grudge.” 

 

“Sometimes it’s hard to forgive people,” Kylo told her. “Yes, she is right. Forgiving people is better than holding a grudge, but when someone does something to you that really hurts you, that makes you sad constantly for a long, long time, it’s hard to let them back into your life again.” He was going to cry. Thinking of Rey afraid and alone on a ship while she was giving birth to his kid was one of the most painful things that he had ever thought of. He should have been there. He should have protected her. There were so many things he should have done. But he couldn’t turn back time. He had to make it up to her now. “If she forgives me, she forgives me. If she doesn’t, that’s okay too. After what I did, I deserve it.” 

 

Kylo stayed true to his word. He would visit Vi’Ra once a week. Rey was tending to the garden the first time he came. Vi’Ra came barreling through the front door, running through the tall grass shouting, “Dad’s here!” Rey could see him come up over the hill and she went back to raking weeds out of the garden. She wasn’t here to talk to him, she was only here to make sure that everything went well with the both of them. 

  
  


He didn’t try to approach her, which she appreciated, but she did feel the wall that she had spent so long fortifying start to give a little as he passed by her, Vi’Ra’s little hand in his. The contrast was almost comical. Rey went back to work tending to the garden. 

 

She was there for about an hour and he was still in the house, Rey just had to suck it up and go in. She could hear Vi’Ra giggling, which was good, and she could hear Kylo giggling too. “Daddy! I can see you hiding in the corner, silly. You’re not very good at hide and seek.”

 

Rey smiled. Despite everything, she was at least glad that Vi’Ra could enjoy spending time with her dad. She went to make dinner, and heard Vi’Ra asking Kylo from the other room, “Are you going to stay for dinner?” 

 

There was a bit of silence. “I don’t think that’s okay with your mom.” He said. Rey rolled her eyes. She wasn’t going to be made out to be the bad guy in this situation. 

 

“What do you mean? She’d be perfectly fine with it, right Mom?” 

 

“He can stay for dinner,” Rey said. “There’s enough food for everyone.” 

 

“You really don’t have to do that if you don’t want to. I’m fine with goi—” It took one look from Rey to get him to say, “I’ll stay.”    
  


* * *

 

_ Four and a Half Years Ago _

 

The night Rey and Kylo conceived Vi’Ra, the both of them were scared out of their minds. She was still for a while, laying against him, the both of them were tangled in each other, and Rey thought for once, there was someone that wouldn’t abandon her like her parents so carelessly abandoned her. “Rey,” He said. “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” 

 

“I want to,” She said. She thought he would never leave her. She was so sure that the two of them would stay together after they did this, after they defeated Snoke. Everything would be fine. They didn’t even have to go back to the Resistance, the two of them could just get up and leave go to some green planet where the both of them could make a home. 

 

She was so convinced that when the two of them made love for the first time, that Ben knew that she loved him, that she was counting on him. 

 

It wasn’t until later that she found that maybe, just maybe, being lonely fit her more than being with someone. Maybe Ben was better being the one begging for someone to stay, even though he left everyone behind. 

  
  
  
  



	6. family day part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the author ruins lives

Rey and Kylo were silent for a long, long time. Rey fell asleep on the couch, and of course, she had a nightmare. It was the same nightmare that it always was. Kylo would come there in the middle of the night, backed by tons and tons of stormtroopers. He would tear into the metal side of their house and take Vi’Ra from Rey as she was being held back, powerless. But tonight was different. 

 

Ben was there. She didn’t realise what was happening at first, because the wall she had put up between the two of them had been so perfect before. She didn’t know how he could be here, yet all the same he was. He didn’t speak, he just put himself in front of the two of them. She looked past his shoulder, to the mask that she used to find so terrifying. 

 

She saw that same masked figure drop his lightsaber and crumble to the floor, like there wasn’t any bones left in him. “You’re safe.” Ben told her. 

 

Rey woke up shaking. Ben had fallen asleep on the seat across from her, and his eyes fluttered open a second after her. She shot straight up, still shaking. “How were you in my head?” 

 

“I don’t know.” 

 

“I don’t want you to be in my head.” 

 

“I wasn’t trying to be in your head, Rey. It just happened. I’m sorry.” He looked up her up and down. “Are you okay?” 

 

“I’ll be fine,” 

 

“I would never take Vi’Ra away from you.” He put his hand on Rey’s shoulder, but Rey didn’t shrug it off. She didn’t resist it. Progress. “You’re an awesome mother,” He told her, “you’ve raised an incredibly smart, beautiful child all by yourself, and I know how important the two of you are to each other. I would never, ever, take Vi’Ra away from you. I promise on my mother’s grave.” A tear slipped from Rey’s cheek, she rocked back and forth a little, his hand still on her. “All I want to do is get to know her, make sure she has a father in her life, I want to help. And, maybe have you forgive me. One day.” 

 

“I don’t know what to say.” 

 

“You don’t have to say anything. Just know that I love you. And Vi’Ra. I would never try and separate you.” 

  
  


“Do you have to go?” Vi’Ra asked. 

 

“Yes,” He said. “I don’t want to but I have to.” 

 

“But you’re supposed to make mom forgive you and fall in love with her.” Rey coughed and Vi’Ra shrugged. 

 

“Have a good trip back, Ben.” She said. She gave him a small smile. That was a lot more than he had anticipated, and he took it wholeheartedly. 

 

“Thanks,” 

* * *

 

He was Ben to her again. One step forward. Progress. His therapist had praised him on his patience, and reminded him that no matter what happened, waiting was worth a shot. Rey was a forgiving person. Just give her time. 

 

Just give her time. 

* * *

 

His therapy session was interrupted by a message though. A message that he never thought he would receive. One he never wanted to get. 

 

_ This a message from the Third Star Destroyer to the supposed Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren. This is General Hux. I just want you to enjoy what you have at the moment. You are not going to have it for long.  _

 

His therapist was there when the holo popped up from her tablet. He immediately shot up, going out into the hallway. He was going to be sick. 

 

_ This is a message from the Third Destroyer to the supposed Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren. This is General Hux—  _

 

    Everything was going insane. Finn pulled him into their meeting room. Luckily it was empty at the minute. “I need to tell you something but you really can’t freak out right now. Remember you have people counting on you. There's a ship going to Rey’s planet. A warship. And...they’re two hours away and we have no way to warn Rey. You need to do some force shit and get in contact with her or—”

 

“Can you send signal to the bases?”

 

“I already have.” Finn said. “They’re getting ready to fly out there but I’m not sure if they can get there in time. There’s a ship coming this way too, so Rey might not be getting as many reinforcements as you want.”

 

“Damn it,” he was trying so hard to keep it together. He had people who were counting on him to do a job.  He had a daughter who wasn’t safe. The first thing he needed to do was reach her, but he couldn’t focus. He needed to find out if they were okay. 

 

_ Dad…  _

 

Vi’Ra. He almost cried out in pain. “Are you okay, man?”

 

“The Force,”

 

“Right. Okay. Do you need me to—” He nodded. 

 

_ Vi’Ra. You and your mother need to get off the planet.  _

 

_ We are.  _

 

Kylo felt relief flood through his body..

 

_ I don’t think we’re safe though.  _

 

He tensed again, and then his vision bled into hers. She was strapped into the ship, and Rey was in the pilot’s seat. They were running blind, right under the Destroyer. The engines weren’t on and they were far enough to dodge blaster bolts, but they were being extremely risky. “It’s going to be okay,” Rey said. “We’re going to go see Daddy, Vi’Ra. Won’t that be great?”

 

“Yeah.”  There was a loud rattle from the ship, and Kylo felt hot for a second. There was an explosion. “What was that?” Rey looked like she was going to cry. Vi’Ra was crying.

 

“It’s...it’s our home. It's gone.” 

 

A blaster bolt narrowly missed them. “ _ Kriff!”  _ Rey turned everything back on again and jerked the controls on the ship. They spiralled out of the way. “You’re really going to need to hold on.” 

 

They kept going as fast as the ship could take them. But they needed to take out the blasters. 

 

_ How can I help?  _ Vi’Ra asked. 

 

_ I don't want to risk your life. _

 

_ I need to help or we'll die!  _

 

He had to help her.  _ Do you know where the quad laser is?  _ She nodded.  _ You need to strap out and get to it. Wait until your mom isn't going in a loop.  _ She did, strapping out and silently slipping away. Kylo saw her little arms and legs move down the ladder and get into the seat.  _ Push the green on button and put the headset on.  _ She did. It was too big for her. The screen came on and she grabbed each stick. It was like she knew what to do.  _ Use your right hand to line up the gun, press the red button on the stick to lock it, use your left to fire. _

 

She moved the stick a little and locked it on a blaster, pushing down the lock and then firing. The blaster went up in flames.  _ Good girl!  _

 

_ I'm scared. _

 

_ I know. But you have to keep doing this. _

 

Everything zoomed past him but Vi’Ra took out one, two, three blasters. They were still under the ship. She narrowly missed the fourth but hit something next to it that made it blow up. “Yay!” She shouted. Then she spoke into the headset. “I know mom. Keep flying.” Five, six, seven. Then the bond ended. 

 

Kylo didn't know what happened to them after.

* * *

 

Rey grabbed Vi’Ra and brought her into a hug after everything was over. They didn’t have many rations and Vi’Ra only had her calligraphy set and one doll, but they were alive. “You shouldn’t have strapped out. But I'm proud of you all the same. What you did was amazing.” She hugged Vi’Ra closer. “God, oh my god.” Rey broke down, and so did Vi’Ra. They were so far away, but out of fuel, and they only had oxygen for four days, but Vi’Ra wouldn’t know that until it came time to tell her.

  
  


That's when she decided to do it. She tore a hole in the wall she put up.

 

_ We need help. _

  
  



	7. An almost

Rey and Vi’Ra were rescued about two days after the attack had started, they had done away with the few ships that were around and got through to the both of them as quickly as they could, that wasn’t fast enough for Kylo. He wanted them there, now, and when they finally landed, he was relieved beyond belief. Finn had commed and told him that Rey had been in bad shape when they found her. She had given most of her rations to Vi’Ra, and it seemed that a panic attack had worn on her body. 

She’d been dehydrated too and got sick on the way back. Kylo was just glad to hear that she was alive. They landed not long into the day, and Kylo was there waiting for the both of them. Vi’Ra ran into his arms, crying. And he picked her up with no problem. “Sh. It’s okay. It’s okay.” He stroked the back of her head gently as he looked past her, and to Rey. She and Finn had found a spot near the ship where they sat down, and Rey just broke down. 

Kylo’s stomach dropped, and he was thankful for the fact that his mother was there to take Vi’Ra in her arms. “I’m going to take her to my place, if that’s okay with you.” 

“Go ahead,” He told her. Vi’Ra wrapped her arms around Leia as the two of them walked off, and Kylo headed over to Rey, sitting down next to her. It didn’t take long for Rey to turn from Finn and wrap her arms around him instead, which he found a bit of a surprise, but he took it. He wrapped his arms around her. “I’m glad you’re okay.” He told her. “You had me worried there for a minute.” 

“I didn’t know if we were going to make it out alive or not,” Kylo was going to kill Hux. He wasn’t sure how he survived in the first place, but this time, when he killed him, he was going to make sure that it was final and permanent. He tensed up, feeling his anger rise in a way that it hadn’t in a long time, and that scared him. Then something else happened. 

A warm gush of air flew through the small hole that Rey had made in the wall that separated their minds. The bricks that she had so carefully crafted were pushed down and torn at until there was nothing left, and the both of them were there again. He nearly melted, holding her closer as his ind quieted him again. “I’m so tired.” She said eventually. 

 

“Why don’t we get you back to my place? Vi’Ra went to Leia’s. I can get you some new clothes and some food, when you’ve rested we can go get Vi’Ra.” Rey didn’t say anything, she just nodded. Kylo and Finn helped her back to the main Capitol building, Finn bidding them goodbye as they got to Kylo’s room. He brought her in, placing a hand on the small of her back. “Wow,” Kylo reddened a little as she came in. He remembered that his apartment was a little more lavish than things that she was used to. He tried not to indulge in such things like a throne room or unnecessarily gold plated objects, but there was a crystalline chandelier and some antiques that dated back to the time of the Old Jedi Order. “It’s beautiful,” She said. 

 

“Thank you.” He told her. “You can just, be on the couch. Rest. I’ll make you some toast at least.” 

 

She didn’t object to that, finding the blanket that he always kept on the couch and wrapping it around herself. She was quiet for a minute before she asked, “Do you sleep out here?” Kylo had been putting some toast in his toaster for her when she asked that. 

 

“Most of the time,” He said. “Why?” 

 

“Just asking,” She said. He got some water for her next before bringing it over to her, sitting down next to her. “Thanks.” He watched her drink. 

 

“I was worried about you,” 

 

“I know,” 

 

“I’m glad you’re okay.” 

 

She set her head on his shoulder. “I was scared that I was going to lose her. I didn’t give a shit about what happened to me, I just—I didn’t want her to die. She’s so young, she doesn’t deserve to be in a middle of a war like this.” 

 

“I know.” He told her. “But we’re going to keep her safe, okay? We’re going to keep her safe together.” 

 

“I want to kill him,” 

 

“I know,” 

 

“I want his neck between my hands, I want to feel that snap. Not with the Force. With my hands. That way I know that he’s dead.” The lights began to flicker.

 

“Rey, calm down.” She closed her eyes and the toaster popped. Kylo got up again and spread some butter on the bread and bring it to Rey. “You need to eat.” She did. 

 

“How did he find out where we were? You didn’t share the beacon with anyone did you?” 

 

“No,” He said. “I’ve been looking into it. We don’t have any definitive answers yet, but we’ll find out what happened and make sure that it doesn’t happen again, okay?”

 

“Okay,” She looked miserable. Kylo put his arm around her and she smiled faintly. “How are you so calm in all this?” 

 

“I’m just holding it together for you to be honest,” He told her, “I haven’t slept for the past two day and my therapist listened to me having a breakdown, but I’m okay now. I also meditate and work out a lot. So—” Rey chuckled a little. 

 

“I guess I’ll have to meditate more.” She said. “Because it seems to be working for you.”

 

“So does talking to someone,” He said. “You know you can talk to me, if you want, right?” The end of her bond fluttered a little, and he could feel her uneasy thoughts stirring. Warnings floating around her mind, reminding her how that had ended the last time, telling her that she needed to stop bonding with him, stop trusting him. But there was something else, something much more lonely and vulnerable taking hold of Rey. It was like the other side of her brain was screaming about how much she had missed him, and she got closer to him. 

 

“The last four years have been hard.” 

 

“I can only imagine,” 

 

“And lonely.” He didn’t say anything. “I didn’t know what to do half the time I was trying to raise her and I feel like the last four years have been just a whirlwind of me panicking and trying to keep her safe and I just, I don’t know if I can do that by myself.” 

 

“You’re not by yourself, Rey. Okay? I won’t ever leave you again.” 

 

* * *

  
  


Vi’Ra liked her grandma’s apartment. It was nice and warm and she had plenty of fluffy blankets  that she let Vi’Ra wrap around herself as she sat on the couch. “Is that good kid? Do you want something to eat?” Vi’Ra shook her head no, and Leia sat down next to her. “You’re going to need to eat something eventually, okay?” 

 

“Mom let me eat all of her rations. I’m not hungry.” Vi’Ra said. 

 

“Thirsty?” 

 

Vi’Ra nodded, and Leia got up again to get her some water. “Thanks.” Vi’Ra was so thirsty, the only water that she had been able to drink was loamy water from the vac suits that were used in case something outside the ship broke off. She looked down the bottom of her glass, remembering everything that she loved being left behind. Tears started flowing again, even though she didn’t want them to. “I’m sorry.” She said. 

 

“Hey, there’s no need to apologise. Okay?” Leia held her closer. “Crying is okay. It’s normal.””

 

“I left daddy’s presents behind.” She said. It felt so stupid to be upset about that of all things but, “those were the first presents I ever got from him and now they’re all gone.” She started sobbing harder and harder. Remembering when her mother would set out a picnic blanket for the both of them when the two suns would fall, Vi’Ra would sit there as Rey braided her hair and make up little stories that she would tell her mother. 

 

“Can I tell you something?” Leia asked. 

 

“Sure,”

 

“I had my home planet destroyed too.” Vi’Ra went quiet. “It was called Alderaan, I think you said that your dad told you a little bit about it. But he hasn’t told you everything about it. Alderaan was a wonderful place, almost otherworldly if you were a foreigner. I loved growing up there. The grass was green and beautiful and the culture was beautiful.  Everything about it just made a good place to grow up, and when I turned nineteen, it got destroyed.”

 

“Who would do that?”

 

“An evil man,” Leia said. “His name was Darth Vader. He was also my father.”

 

“Why would your dad do that? That’s mean.”

 

“He didn’t know I was his kid,” Leia squeezed her a little as she spoke. “But that’s not the point. I thought that everything was lost, and I couldn’t show emotion, even though I wanted to. I couldn't. I was supposed to be a leader, and even though my parents, the people that raised me were gone, I still had to carry their weight on me.”

 

“Are you trying to tell me this story to make me feel better or worse?” Vi’Ra asked.

 

“Just wait,” she told her. “I thought that I was never going to have a home again, and then, I had your dad.” Vi’Ra liked that Leia smiled when she talked about her dad. “He provided me with a sense of home again. I knew that as long as I was with him, and he was with me, we would protect and love each other. And I found home in my kid more than my surroundings. I guess what I’m trying to say is, you have both parents here, you have me, you have friends who are all rooting for you, and we can make this place home like you made your last place home. Okay?”

 

“Okay,” Vi’Ra said. “Thank you.”

__

* * *

  
  


Rey was lonely. She was really lonely, and that’s what caused her first mistake. Nearly kissing Kylo. He got up before she could do anything, nevertheless she tried. “This isn’t a good time for that.” He told her. “As much as I want it to be it's not. When that happens I want it to be because you feel comfortable. Not because something traumatic happened to you. Okay?” Rey felt her cheeks burning. “You need rest instead.” Without saying anything. She laid on the couch. She didn't want to acknowledge him for a couple of hours.


	8. you can pretend you don't miss me

Rey and Vi’Ra had been asleep on the couch for hours. Kylo watched them sleep, went to meetings, talking about how Hux could possibly still be alive and how he had enough military power to blow up a planet. When he came back, the two of them were still asleep. That gave him a little time to wind down before Vi’Ra finally woke up. She was staring at her mother before looking up at Kylo.  _ She wanted to kiss you. Why didn’t you say yes? _

 

_ That’s not how it works, kid.  _

 

_ That’s a lame excuse. _

 

_ I know. You’ll understand someday though.  _

 

Vi’Ra turned over, back to her mother. Something told Kylo that she wasn’t too happy with him in that moment. He knew why. It was understandable, but she really didn’t know what resisting that kiss was like. Kylo wanted to throw all judgement to the wind in that very moment and kiss Rey. He missed her so much, but he had to do this in a way that wasn’t self destructive to him or Rey. And that meant not kissing her. 

 

He made dinner, Rey woke up shortly after. “Hungry?” He asked. She shook her head no. “You need to eat.”

 

“I’m not hungry,” He could feel this sort of burning humiliation through the bond, and regret. Regret that she had torn that wall down. He didn’t push her any further. He just set a plate out for both of them. 

 

“I have some paperwork I have to do. So I’ll be uh, I'll be going.” 

 

“Stay,” Vi’Ra said. “I want to have dinner as a family.” He nodded and sat down. Rey joined, not saying anything. She looked so tired. She ate a little, which was more than Kylo was expecting, and Vi’Ra started to talk. “Tomorrow I want to go over to Leia’s again.”

 

“Sure,” Rey said. 

 

“She told me that she’d tell me more stories about Alderaan,” Kylo tensed. He remembered how his mother used to get about Alderaan when he was a kid. The days where she would be in bed and grief would just hit her so hard that she wouldn’t get out of bed, and Kylo had to entertain himself with a power drill and a worrisome droid who was not fit to be a nanny.  He wondered what possessed her to be able to tell Vi’Ra this stuff. He wouldn’t question it. 

 

“That’s great,” Rey said. 

 

“I want to stay the night.” 

 

“If that’s okay with Leia, that’s okay with me.” Rey said. Kylo stared at her. She was so tired, he could feel it through her bond. Trying to process everything that was happening wasn’t going very well for her at this moment in time. Everyone finished eating, and Vi’Ra went to go sleep again. Rey and Kylo sat on the couch again. Further apart from each other this time. 

 

“Can we talk—”

 

“No,” 

 

“Okay,” Kylo didn’t know what else to do. He was supposed to be patient. He was supposed to be understanding, but how long would this take for things to go back to the way they were? 

 

“It’s probably not.” She said. 

 

“You’re mad.” Rey sighed. He turned to her. “That’s not fair. I did the right thing.” 

 

“Sometimes the right thing isn’t always the best decision, Ben.” She laid her head back on the couch, closing her eyes. “I know it was stupid, and I don’t want it now, but I just wanted to be held. I was scared. And you weren’t there.” 

 

“That’s really not fair. I was there with you the whole night.” He was trying not to get angry. He was really trying. “Do you know what it was like? Those four years without you? Do you know how many times I wanted to hold you and then you come back but I can’t do anything that I want to do with you because you’re mad at me. And I’m just supposed to sit on my ass and wait for you to stop being mad at me which might as well never happen.”

 

“I don’t know why me being mad at you is so irritating to you,” She said. “You don’t know me. We knew each other for like four weeks.”

 

“You think I don’t know you?” They were shouting now. “Really Rey? Are you going to say something that stupid?” 

 

“You think it's stupid? It's true. The only reason I ever got into this was because I left Jakku. Which I’m starting to regret, by the way.”

 

“You would’ve died on Jakku. You wouldn’t have had Vi’Ra.”

 

“She’s the only good thing that came of it.” Rey told him. “I learned pretty soon after that that four weeks wasn’t long enough to get to know someone.”

 

“I’ve seen all your dreams,” he told her, “I’ve shared your loneliness, I’ve shared your nightmares, I know that you were scared to come here when Vi’Ra first convinced you to come because you didn’t want to see me. I know that when you wake up, the first thing you do is check and make sure Vi’Ra is still there because you’re afraid of someone taking her. I know that when we kissed the first time, you trusted me and that made me think that maybe I had a chance for a better life. So don’t take your anger out on me and say that I don’t know you! Because I do. And you know me.”, you’re just not going to admit it.” 

 

Rey didn’t say anything after that. The two of them stayed there, out of breath and angry. “I’m sorry.” She said finally. “I’m just, angry. I took it out on you. You’re doing great, just in general, you’re doing great.” She started crying. “God, fuck, I’m a mess.” 

 

“It’s okay.” He told her. “I understand why,” 

 

“Why are you so calm? I’ve been acting like an ass to you and I just—” 

 

“Hey, I acted like an ass for most of my life. I think that I deserve a little shit because of that, you know?” Rey closed her eyes, wiping the tears off her cheeks. She moved, getting closer to him. She put her head on his shoulder. 

 

“This is my last day of acting like an asshole.” She said. “I just, I need some sleep. Can you stay?” 

 

“I will if you want me to.” He said. 

 

* * *

  
  


When Rey was saying that she was done acting like an ass, she really meant it. When Kylo woke up, Rey wasn’t there. He heard the sounds of fists hitting a punching bag in his gym room. He got up, rubbing his eyes a little. Of course Rey was there, sweating with only her bra and pants on. Her muscles had never gone away. She stopped after a few minutes of Kylo of watching her. “Hey,” She looked flushed, from exercising relentlessly. 

 

“Hey,” He said. “Glad you found my gym.” 

 

“It’s great.” She said. 

 

“Thanks.” He said. “Got out everything that you needed to?” 

 

“Most of it,” She told him. “I need to go down to Finn and talk to him about stuff, but I need to get involved with more stuff.” She started to walk out of the gym when it registered with Kylo what she could mean by  _ get more involved   _ with things. 

 

“What do you mean?” 

 

He followed her out. 

 

“I need to get involved with things.” She said. “Getting out there.” That’s what he thought she meant. 

 

“No, you really don’t need to do that.” He said. “You’re a mother, Rey. You don’t need to do that, you really don’t.” Rey stayed calm, merely raising an eyebrow. “You don’t need to go out there, we have an army way bigger than anything the Resistance could have ever dreamed of. We don’t need you out there. Vi’Ra needs you.” 

 

“Mommy can go.” Vi’Ra was standing there in the hallway in her nightgown. She was looking up at the both of them. “She’s the strongest person I know, and she’s gonna come home.” Rey smiled. 

 

“If a five year old can get it, you can too.” Rey told him. 

 

“Yeah dad,” 

 

“You don’t get it.” 

 

“Yes she does, and so do I. I know it’s dangerous, but I abandoned my friends once and I’m not going to do that again. You can’t stop me either. I need to be involved. I need to be out there to make sure that she’s safe. And besides, she has a wonderful father here for her to make sure that she’s safe. She has Leia too. That’s more than I ever had as a kid.” 

 

“I’ll be fine.” Vi’Ra said. “Mom should go with Finn. Keep him safe.” 

 

* * *

 

Vi’Ra went to Leia’s that night, like she had asked her parents there. She lied slightly when she said that Leia was going to tell her more about Alderaan, because Leia was going to tell her more about her parents. She wanted to learn more about the both of them. She knew nothing of her mother’s past, and all she knew was that her father used to be a bad person but wasn’t anymore.

 

She wanted to know more. The first person they started out with was her mother. 

 

“Rey’s a good kid.” Leia said. “A really good kid. She’s changed a lot with you, but she’s still a good kid,” 

 

“What did she used to be like?” Vi’Ra asked with a bit of wonder.  

 

“She was kind, like she is now. But entirely too trusting, especially for a person that grew up in a place like her. Rey grew up on Jakku, do you know where that is?” Vi’Ra shook her head no. 

 

“Well, Jakku is a slavers planet. Or used to be a slaver’s planet. Rey was a scavenger,” 

 

“Where were her parents?” 

 

“They sold her.” In that moment, Vi’Ra’s heart broke for her mother. But at the same time she was left wondering why Rey never told her about this. She supposed that she should be grateful for what she had right now, even if her home had been destroyed. “They sold her to a man that wasn’t good at all. Even if you tried to give him time to redeem himself, he wouldn’t redeem himself. He hurt your mother a lot.” 

 

“Is he in jail?” 

 

“He passed away.” 

 

“He’s dead?” 

 

“Yes.” 

 

“Who killed him?” The face Leia made let Vi’Ra know that it was her dad, but she wasn’t mad at that. If he hurt her mother, he deserved to die. 

 

“Rey was alone, a lot of her life. But can I tell you a secret? One I’m not sure that either her or your father remember?” Vi’Ra nodded, wide eyed and waiting in wonder to hear what Leia was about to tell her. “When your father was little, he used to have dreams about her. Through the force.” 

 

“Really?” 

 

“I didn’t realise it at first, but when your father was little, he used to get nightmares. He told me one night that he had a nightmare about a girl in a broken down AT-AT unit, he said that she was starving and alone, looking up at the stars like she was waiting for her parents to come back when they weren’t. I bet your mother had the same dreams too.” 

 

Vi’Ra held on to that for the rest of the night. 

* * *

  
  


Kylo didn’t want Rey to go. He had told her that. Now was his last chance to get her to stay. It was selfish, and it was weak, but he was desperate. He couldn’t lose her. Not after everything that happened. So he laid out candles and made dinner for the both of them. Rey must’ve sensed that something was up because she said, “This isn’t a date, is it?”

 

“It doesn’t have to be.”

 

Rey kept eating, then stopped. “You know I’m leaving tomorrow right? You can’t stop that.” He had to try. 

 

“I know,”

 

"So what is this?"

 

"I just wanted some time with you. Before you go. I had a long day." She nodded. "Stressful,"   
  


"So why would you decide to spend the rest of the day with me?" She laughed halfheartedly. 

 

“Why wouldn’t I?” 

 

“All I have brought you is stress.” Rey told him. 

 

“You don’t only bring me stress... and I guess I thought we could both use a calm night.”

 

"Yeah," She said. She was silent for a while before she said. "I always meant to ask you, what happened to that stupid mask that you wore?"

  
Kylo laughed a little. "Destroyed it." He said. "Shortly after our first fight."

  
"Oh," She said. "That's good, you have a good face, you shouldn't cover it up."

 

“Ha, right. Thanks.”

 

"I'm serious," 

 

"You win in the looks department."    
  


"Don't put yourself down to lift me up."

 

“Sorry, I just… I’m still working on that with my therapist.” Rey nodded.

 

“I understand,”

 

"Takes a while. Doesn't it?”

 

“Yeah. It’s... weird.”

"I never really got how to do that," She admitted, "I mean I don't hate myself but I've never really liked myself either. I've just...survived.”

 

“I get that. Some days are better than others. It’s confusing.”

 

"You know, I never understood why you hated your looks. You were the first guy I ever found attractive. The only one."

 

“Really?”

 

"Really." She said. "Everything about you is like art."

 

“Well, you are the most breathtaking. I was a mess when I first saw you.”

 

"I know you were." She said. "You turned out great though. I don't regret meeting you."

“How? I was a terrible person.”

 

"Who turned into a standup father, a peaceful ruler, and a hell of a good cook." Rey said. "You've grown."

  
  


“Now you’re starting to sound like my therapist.”

 

"Besides you were never a terrible person. Just...manipulated." She said. "A terrible person wouldn't bridal carry a prisoner through a battlefield and then stall taking her to his boss because you didn't want him to hurt me."   
  


"God there's so many times I wished I stayed with you. I just, I needed to make sure that you could redeem yourself. And you did." She shook her head. "Sorry, I'm babbling. I'm tired. How was your day?"

 

"Dealing with politicians and declaring war, this is the highlight of my day."

 

“I’m flattered.” Rey giggled. Kylo watched her. She looked even more beautiful in the candle light. He felt blood starting to rush down south, and heat heading to his cheeks.

 

"Can we move to the couch?" He asked. "I wanna be next to you."

 

“Sure. Is there a holo you want to watch?” 

 

"I don't watch many holos, if there's one you like we can watch. I'm not very caught up with pop culture.” Kylo picked a romantic holo. That’s basically all he ever watched. He was cheesy like that. Neither of them were really watching the holo, Rey cuddled into him and Kylo ached.

 

He wanted her to stay. He wanted her to stay so so bad. 

 

He was being selfish. Really selfish. He leaned over and kissed her. He expected Rey to slap him. She kissed him back. Things escalated and he turned the holo off. His hands were on her and she was moaning under his touch. Neither of them had done this in so long, but they needed each other. The next thing he knew they were in his bedroom and clothes were off.

 

They made love that night, and he was an idiot. He thought that would make her stay.


	9. some long days ahead

Rey left the next day with Finn, Rose, and Jess. She had been a little bit nervous at first, but she felt better when she knew that Vi’Ra was okay with this, and that maybe Ben was okay with this too. At least, she thought that he was okay with this, she thought that he was trying to send her off in a way that would make her feel more at ease. She gave the both of them hugs before she went off with her friends, all it was was bringing in a weapons shipment, and she didn’t tell anyone but the planet they were going to was the one where Rey had buried her lightsaber a long time ago. She prayed that the thing was still there, because she needed it. 

“You know you really didn’t have to come with us,” Finn told her. “You have a kid, we get it.” 

“I don’t know,” Rose said. “I feel a little bit better knowing that we have the Last Jedi on our side.” Rey smiled, she hadn’t really got a chance to get to know Rose, but she knew that she was going to like her. 

“Yeah,” Jess said, “I feel a little better doing this knowing that she’s here.” 

“It’s going to be fine.” Rey told everyone. “This is just picking up a shipment and taking it to a base, if there’s a little firefight in between,  we all have enough experience to defend ourselves. Finn brought up the gate of the ship and the three of them got to work getting everything started and flying out from the docks. Rey forgot how much she missed being with these three people. They laughed and joked and flew through the air, but there was no trouble, no awkwardness, no one brought up  anything about how Rey had abandoned them before, and Rey remembered what it was like to really have friends. 

She hadn’t talked to them in so long, she had been lonely, most of that was her fault, but it was still nice to know that they were just as excited to have her back. Her good time had to be interrupted though, of course it had to be. Luckily it wasn’t by any First Order ships or anything like that. But Kylo. He was sitting in his bedroom alone, and she could feel the anger boiling in him. It was almost as bad as how it used to be when he was still — well, when he was still under the thumb of the Supreme Leader. 

“You’re mad,” She said. “Why?” 

“I think you know why.” Her stomach sank a little.  _ He’s mad because I left.  _

“That’s not fair.” Rey told him. “I’m doing this to keep Vi’Ra safe. I’m doing this to keep everyone safe.” 

“After what happened last night, I thought you would stay.” It was Rey’s turn to be angry, and she had a right to be angry. 

“After what happened last night?” She felt dirty, knowing what Kylo was doing right now. “You mean you had sex with me to manipulate me into staying?”   Kylo blinked, it looked like now he truly understood the ramifications of his words. “Wow,” She said. “And to think I thought you were trying to give me a good send off.” 

“Rey—” 

“You’re disgusting, you know that?” That stung. She could feel him hurt through the bond. That anger that was there dissipated and was replaced by something else, overwhelming humiliation and guilt. “Goodnight, Kylo.” She shut out the bond between them before he could say anything. For the rest of the night, Rey was unable to sleep, she went out into the main part of the ship, making sure that everything was working, checking to make sure there were no ships anywhere near their radar. 

Rose must’ve woken up, because she came into the pilot’s bay, looking half asleep. “You okay?” She said. 

“Yeah.” Rey sighed. “Fine.” 

“That doesn’t sound fine, what’s wrong?” She sat down in the passenger seat. Rey guessed that she wouldn’t be able to avoid that. 

“Kylo, just being an asshole.” Rose raised an eyebrow. 

“What happened?” 

“He slept with me to try and get me to stay.” She wasn’t sure what Rose was thinking at the moment. 

“Okay that’s uncharacteristically asshole-ish for him, like a relapse of his old behavior.” 

“I know,” Rey looked out to the stars, trying to relax at the moment. She wasn’t sure what to do.  “I know that you guys want me to forgive him, to get back with him, and I was so ready to do that, but I just— after this…” 

“Okay, listen. It’s fine if you don’t ever want to get back together with Kylo. I know that what he’s done is more than plenty reason to not want to do anything with him ever.” Rey thought that Rose would’ve defended him. She didn’t. “If I can play devil’s advocate, he’s really trying to make sure you and Vi’Ra are safe. And he’s scared, okay? He’s really scared of losing you and her. We were talking the other day and the way he was talking about you — he loves you a lot.” 

“What were you two talking about?” 

“He asked me if I thought he redeemed himself, asked me if I thought he could redeem himself in your eyes. I told him that I thought he could. He told me about the way he thought about you when he was depressed, how it got him through the day. Told me that he admired the way you raised Vi’Ra all by yourself. He said you gave birth on a First Order ship and he didn’t even know, is that true?” 

Rey nodded. “I’d run out of fuel on the way to Takodana, the First Order ship caught me and put me in jail. I gave birth on the ship and had to carry Vi’Ra with me as I escaped. I thought that we were both going to die.” 

“Damn, you really are strong.” Rose smiled in admiration, “I can see why Kylo likes you so much.” Rey smiled back, tired, and not really sure how to respond to that. She took it as a compliment though. She was able to take her mind off the fight she and Kylo had had over the next week that it took to get the things that she needed. They stopped on Takodana to refuel and Rey ran into Maz again, giving her a hug and catching up with her. Finally, she asked her about Kylo. About what he had done and if it would be smart to forgive him for it. 

“Let the boy apologise to you,” Maz said. “He regrets what he did, and if you find it in your heart, you should forgive him.” Rey took that advice and kept in her head. She trusted Maz after all. After she was done talking to Maz, she, Finn, Rose, and Jess had all gotten drunk and got a hold of the piano that was the newest piece in Maz’s tavern. 

“Do you know how to play?” Rey asked Finn. 

“I know a little,” He said. He sat down and started playing the piano. It was pretty clear that he knew more than just a little. He started playing the piano, and then Rose said something about Rey singing, and she did. 

“You brought a star, in the sky tonight, because your life is dark, and it needs some light, you named it after me, but I’m not yours to keep.” She could feel the bond bloom, opening between the two of them like a budding flower. Kylo was sitting on a chair not far off. “Because you’ll never see, that the stars are free.” She could feel his pain and guilt pounding through her skull, even though she was drunk. “Oh we don’t own our heavens now, we only own our hearts, and if you don’t know that by now then you don’t know me that well.” He wanted to reach out to her, but he didn’t. She could tell that he was planning to later. “All my life I’ve been so lonely, all in the name of being holy, still you like to think you know me, you keep buying stars.” He was planning to reach out to her later. 

Maybe then she'd forgive him.

* * *

 

When Rey got back, she hugged Vi’Ra and avoided Ben, and that stung more than anything else. He wanted to apologize for what he did so badly, but she wasn’t going to give him a chance. 

He had to do something. He set up another dinner for her, and when she came in and sighed, he felt relieved that finally they were in the same room. “Hey,” he said. 

“Hey,” She replied. They hadn’t spoken to each other in three and a half weeks and Kylo was dying from the stress of trying to figure where Hux was stationed and everything else that came with being Supreme Leader. 

“Can we talk?” Vi’Ra was at Leia’s, playing with Chewie. 

“Sure.” Rey closed the door and walked forward a few steps. She was tired. 

“I’m sorry,” He said. 

“I’m sure.”

“What I did was selfish and wrong and there’s no excuse for it. I don't ever want you to feel used or manipulated again and you have every right to be mad at me.” Rey blinked, and Kylo felt his chest tightening by the second. 

“Okay,” She said. 

“Okay?”

“Yeah. Okay.” She told him. “I forgive you. I’m hungry.” She sat down at the table and Kylo felt a load taken off his shoulders. The two of them ate in silence before Rey said. “I meant it when I said I forgive you by the way.”

Kylo nodded. He still felt bad, and Rey knew why. She understood. When they were done eating she headed to the couch and waited as he cleaned up. When he was done he sat down next to her. “Talk to me.” She told him. 

“I’m sorry,” He said again. 

“You've beaten yourself up enough about it.” Rey sighed. “I’m not mad anymore. I was, but I understood why you did what you did. I just — don’t do it again. Okay?”

“I won’t.” He said. He didn’t expect Rey to kiss him that night, but she did. “Why?” He asked her. “Sometimes I just want to be held.” She said. “Or have sex with someone.” They kissed again. “Maybe we can just do that for right now. No strings attached.”

They did. Kylo didn’t want to satisfy himself, he wanted to satisfy her. He ate her out. Rey made soft little moans and wrapped her fingers in his hair. When they were done, Rey laid down next to him for a long time, not really looking at him. 

“Thank you,” She said. 

“No problem,”

“Do you want me to—” 

“I’m good.” He got up. “I have a lot of papers to go through, the beginnings of war are never fun to deal with.” 

“Right.” Rey said. She sounded a little bit disappointed. “Try to get some sleep though,” She told him. “We’ve got some long days ahead of us.”

  
  



	10. things you want don't come easy

Rey slept with Ben multiple times, no strings attached. She wished that he could see it that way too. She knew what he wanted, but right now she couldn’t give it to her. Rey was going off to war and Ben had to deal with politics and it was just too much. Dealing with feelings too when either one of them could die was just too much for her. 

 

She had to deal with Vi’Ra too, who was starting to have nightmares herself. She would never tell Rey or Ben what they were about. She would just say that she was upset and she needed to sleep with the two of them. It seemed like Vi’Ra was growing distant, and that scared Rey more than anything. So she sat down with her one day and asked her, “Hey, I need you to tell me something.” 

 

Vi’Ra sat there, she seemed tired. “You haven’t been sleeping right for a while, and I want to know why. What’ve your nightmares been about?” Vi’Ra was silent for a minute. “I won’t get mad at you for anything you tell me,” She said. “I just need to know so I can help you. Because it’s not healthy for a kid your age to not be sleeping.” 

 

“Sorry,” 

 

“It’s not your fault, sweetheart.” She said, “I just need to know what’s going on. Because I care about you, and I know that you think I care too much but that’s my job. To care too much about you.” 

 

“I’m scared,” Vi’Ra said. 

 

“About what?” 

 

“I had a dream that you were on a ship,” Vi’Ra told her. “A bad ship, and you were hurt. And I don’t want you to get hurt. And I know that I said that I’m okay with you going out and fighting the bad guys and I am, but I can’t stop having this dream and I don’t want you to get hurt, mom. I want you to always be okay.” Rey grabbed her. 

 

“I’m sorry,” Rey said. “I am so sorry, kid.” Vi’Ra hugged her mother, and started crying. She held her until she was done, and then she said, “Can I tell you something?” Vi’Ra pushed herself a little bit, nodding. “Okay, so when I first held you in my arms, it was one of the most best and terrifying things that happened to me. Because you were so beautiful and I had always wanted a kid, but I was on a bad ship when I gave birth to you, and there were people that were ordered to kill me on sight. I thought that the both of us weren’t going to make it off that ship. But then I looked down at you, how sweet and innocent you were. How full of life you seemed, and that gave me hope. That hope got me off of that ship. That hope that you give me keeps me safe. It always will, okay? I won’t get hurt.” 

 

“You can’t promise that,” 

 

“No,” Rey told her. “But I can promise you this, I will be home every weekend for every dinner, I will be there with your dad to watch you grow up, I will be there to protect you.” 

 

Vi’Ra nodded. 

 

“Do you believe me?” 

 

“Yes.” She said. Rey pulled her tighter. “I believe you.” The two of them cuddled.  

* * *

  
  


Rey and Ben were in bed, they slept together, not just sexually. Both of them were awake though. He was thinking about something, Rey could tell that he was about to ask her something. “Hey,” He said. Rey looked over at him. “This is a weird question,” He said. “And don’t get mad at me for asking this but, would you ever think about having more kids?”

 

“I know I want more kids,” Rey said almost immediately. She was half asleep at the time. “Don’t get me wrong, I fucking hated being pregnant. Mainly because I didn’t have any access to medicine whatsoever, but the end product, I loved the end product.” He nodded, still staring up at the ceiling. “When I was on Jakku, I used to make little dolls and pretend that those were my kids.” 

 

“Really?”

 

“Really,” Rey said. “It was embarrassing, but I was lonely, I wanted a big family that way I wasn’t lonely anymore. And it’s not just that though. Not anymore at least. I want to give kids a chance that I didn’t get when I was a kid.” Rey pressed her lips together. “Why? Do you want more kids?” 

 

He nodded. “I really like being a dad.” That brought a smile to Rey’s face.

 

“That’s good.” She said. “That’s really good. You’re a really good father.” 

 

The two of the giggled a little bit, probably partially from the fact that they hadn’t slept much. “I just, I had this dream and I wanted to know if it was realistic for me to hope.” 

 

“Hope that we would have more kids?” Rey asked. 

 

“Yeah?” 

 

“It’s realistic.” Rey told him. “Maybe after the war, right now’s just not a good time.” 

 

“Right,” He said. “After the war,” Rey fell asleep not long after.

* * *

 

_ Four Years Later, A look Into The Future _

 

Vi’Ra was nine years old and she had seen a lot more than a child her age had seen. She was well versed in the staff and the blaster, and she could operate a ship by herself, she was of course not out fighting on the front lines like her mother was, but when her father decided to open his ship to the influx of wounded people from the latest onslaught of attacks from the First Order, she decided that she needed to help. 

 

She remembered how stressed that her mother and father had been, thinking that the attacks had stopped, that they had back the Order into a corner, only for them to pull through just as stubborn and dangerous as ever. She remembered the first time she snuck out and asked Jess to show her things about treating the wounded. 

 

Vi’Ra was now able to administer a considerable amount of aid in her nursing skills. Her mother had been all for her helping out on the base, her father not so much, but he finally gave way and told her that as long as she stayed on base and she was safe, she could help in any way that she wanted to. So she did. 

 

Today had been a quiet day, until all of the sudden Vi’Ra saw the alarm that there were ten of the New Order’s ship coming their way, all of them with tons and tons of wounded people. One of those ships just so happened to be her mother’s ship. Vi’Ra pushed the button to gain access to her comm system. “Mom if you can hear this message, please respond.” 

 

She didn’t respond. Someone else did, “Who are you looking for kid?” Vi’Ra didn’t panic yet. 

 

“Rey,” She answered. “The Last Jedi,” She said. That was her mother’s most common nickname. There was a pause before the guy on the other end answered, “I’m so sorry. She didn’t make it on the ship.” 


	11. i'm little but i'm coming for the crown

Vi’Ra didn’t immediately run back home to tell her father what happened, she stayed as a bunch of people began to come in, a bunch of wounded filing in, nurses and doctors coming to people’s aid. There were people that were far more injured than anything Vi’Ra knew, but she knew that she had to try to help people. “BB-8!” She shouted when she saw her. The droid was rolling towards her at an alarming speed, “BB-8, it’s so good to see you.” 

 

The droid was screeching a bunch of expletives at her, so she waited until it was done before she asked. 

 

“Did anyone make it back? Uncle Finn? Rose? Jess?” 

 

The droid beeped dramatically, she took that as a no. 

 

“Did anyone die?” 

 

Not any of them. That was sound at least, Vi’Ra tried to reach her mother through the force, but she couldn’t feel her. She decided that she couldn’t dwell on that right now. She needed to help others. She gave out as much water as she could, performed first aid, she wished that she knew how to heal people through the force, but she hadn’t quite mastered that yet and she didn’t want to risk the health of other people on something as that. And then she went home. 

 

She had a knot of dread in her stomach as she thought about telling her father. She ran as fast as she could, opened the door, there was blood on her hands from trying to help stop others bleeding. He turned, Leia was in the room too. “Vi’Ra.” He saw the blood on her hands and stopped. “Where’s your mother?” 

 

“She didn’t make it on the ships.” Vi’Ra said. He was silent for a moment, “Neither did Finn, Rose, or Jess.” Kylo opened his mouth to say something, but something nightmarishly wrong happened. Blood dripped out of his mouth, and he collapsed. Vi’Ra felt a miniscule amount of the pain that her mother felt, but it seemed that her father blocked her from most of it. Vi’Ra screamed, and both her and Leia rushed towards him. Vi’Ra took his pulse. He was still alive. Leia called a medic, told Vi’Ra that she should get back, but she stayed at her dad’s side until the medic got there.

  
  


Rey had to make a decision, the ships could only hold fifty people each and there was ten of them,  a few of them had been destroyed in the fight, there was six hundred people that had been in a battle. It was either save herself and her friends or save other people. She knew that she would see Vi’Ra again, she would just have to stay longer, fight harder. She could do that. She had Finn, Rose, and Jess to back her up. They also stayed behind. The fight was brutal, the New Order had the tech, but the First Order had a lot of people, way more than Rey had ever dreamed of seeing. 

 

Rey gripped onto her lightsaber, dirt spraying everywhere as she looked at the other line. “We can’t move,” Finn said. “It’s suicide,” Rey had been shot twice already, once in the shoulder, and a graze on the arm. She had to do something. There was a hundred people left on the battlefield that were depending on her. 

 

She closed her eyes, feeling her grip on the Force slip through her fingers as she tried to grip it. She had to do this, she had to help her friends. She grabbed onto the one thing that she knew would make her stronger. Luke. She called upon his ghost, and for a moment she felt a surge of energy that she hadn’t had before. She could feel everything at once, all of the soldiers behind the lines, the barracks, the dying wildlife. All of it, she focused all of that into a ball of anger, and lightning crackled from the sky, raining in down on a treacherous thunder on the barracks on the other side of No Man’s Land. 

 

That spike of adrenaline she had was still there, Rey clambered out of her side of the barracks, Finn and Jess screaming behind her. Rose and a few others ran out with her. Rey had to act first, she could smell burning flesh in the battlefield. Blaster bolts rained down on everyone and more and more of the one hundred ran towards the First Order. It was now that they stood up, or it was them dying. Rey could see Luke’s ghost next to her, but not just him, Obi Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and other dead jedis. They were all with her in this moment. 

 

The sea of soldiers and stormtroopers parted in a big path, Rey pushed more and more back with the Force, feeling her adrenaline power her through each move, she could make it a little longer, just a little longer. People cried in pain and died, but ultimately it was starting to seem like maybe the one hundred had a chance of winning. 

 

It was then that Rose got shot. Finn shouted out and Rey turned around, turning off her lightsaber and running to Rose’s aid. “Go!” Rose said. “Leave me here,” 

 

“I’m not leaving you here,” Rey said, “you’re my best friend.” 

* * *

  
  


_ Two Years Ago _

 

It was Rey’s twenty sixth birthday and Rose didn’t know what to get her. The two of them were out drinking when she asked her, “So Kylo’s planning on celebrating your birthday.” 

 

“No he’s not,” Rey said. 

 

“Yes he is,” Rose told her. Rey groaned. 

 

“I hate that so much.” Rey admitted. She knew that Ben would never understand that. She didn’t expect him to, but she wished that he would just respect it though.

 

“Why?” Rose’s lips quirked in a lopsided smile. 

 

“I don’t know why,” She told Rose, “maybe because I never had a birthday on Jakku, but I don’t need a big celebration with. I just want to watch some holos and play games with Vi’Ra. Maybe have some cake at the most, I just, I feel like there’s better things to do than to be spending all day on me.” 

 

“Okay, I have to disagree with you there.” Rose said. “I think you’re worth spending whole days on. You’re really nice and strong and pretty and that accent, it’s just a whole package. If I was Kylo I’d spend as long on you as I could. I’m pretty sure everyone who comes into your life that matters thinks that.” Rey blushed. The both of them were a little drunk and the tavern they stopped at was filled with soldiers that were nearly asleep from how drunk they were. 

 

“You are the sweetest person in the world, Rose Tico.” 

 

“Thank you,” 

 

“Why hasn’t Finn married you yet?” 

 

“I’ve asked myself that question a lot.” She said. “I think it has to do with Poe. I know that Finn loved him the same way he loved me, I think that a part of him is guilty that he got in a relationship with someone after Poe’s death.” 

 

Rey nodded. That made sense. “He’ll come to his senses,” Rey promised her. “I know the guilt of doing things to make yourself feel better even if your brain is telling you you don’t deserve it. It’s hard, but Finn loves you to pieces. He’ll propose.” 

 

Rose shook her head, “Damn you’re so good at making people feel better. Anyways, anyways, what I was going to ask you was, what do you want for your birthday?” 

 

“You don’t have to get me a present, Rose.” 

  
  


“Yes, I do.” Rose said. “You literally gave me a present for my last few birthdays, new toolkits, helping me liberate animals on a slaver’s farm, talking to me when I was depressed. I need to get you a present.” 

 

“Fine.” Rey rolled her eyes. “If you really want to get me a present, I want you to come home from the war safe.” She said. “And I want you to come over to my apartment and watch holos with me each Saturday. Can you do that?” 

 

Rose’s eyes were wide, she was smiling from ear to ear. “Yeah, I can.” 

* * *

 

_ Present Day _

 

“You need to go,” Rose said. “Go, be safe. You have a daughter to get back to.” Rey had slung Rose’s arm over her, had gotten her to walk. Her adrenaline was still pumping, she could carry Rose for as long as she needed to. 

 

“You know that promise you made to me when I was turning twenty six? Yeah, well I’m not gonna let you break that. We just need to get you back to the barracks and I can heal you. I can heal you.” Rey got shot again. The pain just above her ribs. 

 

“Rey!” Rose said. 

 

“I’m okay, I’m okay.” She bit her lip, she could feel blood pooling in her mouth. Finn ran and lifted Rey up, another girl that was around fifteen got on Rose’s side. She started helping them as well. 

 

“We can do this guys. Just get to the barracks. Get to the barracks.” Rey could feel her adrenaline slowing down again. Her grip on reality wasn’t so great. People were shouting, and the few of the Resistance that were left suddenly made a blockade in front of Rey.

 

“PROTECT THE JEDI!” They shouted. “LONG LIVE THE JEDI!” Rey wanted to scream as they were all shot down. 

* * *

 

“Your father will be okay,” Leia said. “Whatever was going on has seemed to calm down and medbots are taking care of his injuries. It’s just a matter of him waking up.” Vi’Ra was barely holding it together. She hadn’t cried yet. She couldn’t cry yet. Her parents needed her help. 

 

_ I can help you, kid.  _ The faint projection of two men, both older, one wearing a leather jacket and a blaster belt, the other wearing the robes of a Jedi were at the end of the hallway. They held their hands up to not tell Leia what was happening. “Vi’Ra, I know that this can be hard, but you still have me. You’ll always have me with you, no matter what.” 

 

“Can I go to the bathroom?” Leia blinked, probably perplexed as to why Vi’Ra wasn’t more emotional.

 

“Yeah,” She said. “Go. I’ll be here when you get back.”  Vi’Ra pretended to look as sad as possible. Knowing that she wasn’t in fact going to go to the bathroom. She went all the way to the end of the hallway and turned the corner.

 

“Who are you?” She asked when she saw the ghosts again. 

 

“I’m your grandpa, kid. Han Solo.” The one with the leather jacket said. 

 

“Han, don’t be rude.” 

 

“You’re Luke, aren’t you?” She said to the other. The Jedi nodded. Vi’Ra turned back to Han. “My dad said you weren’t force sensitive.” 

 

“I didn’t think I would be either.” Han said, he looked wary of Vi’Ra. She was wary of him. “Apparently everything’s with the Force.” He didn’t look happy to be there anyway. “Which was fu-frickin’ thrilling to me.” Luke eyed him. “Anyways, we’re here to help you. Do you want to send a big middle finger to the First Order?” 

 

“Han!” 

 

“What?” 

 

“Can you just tell me how you’re going to help me?” Vi’Ra asked impatiently. 

 

“Okay, okay.” He said. “Follow us.” So she did. She followed the two of them to the broadcasting room. There were a few people in there. 

 

“What are you doing little girl?” They asked. 

 

“I need to send a message.” She said. 

 

“Well this isn’t the place for this.” 

 

“You will help me broadcast a message to the First Order,” She said. 

 

“I will help you broadcast a message to the First Order.” The three men said. 

 

“Damn, she’s good.” Han muttered. 

 

“Close the door and lock it until I tell you.” One of them did so and she got in front of the camera. They started working on recording the holo. “I want this to look as good as possible.” She said. “I want it to be broadcast everywhere.” 

 

“Yes, ma’am.” They said. They did what she asked, and one of them said that the camera was rolling. “Hello,” Vi’Ra said. She cleared her throat. She needed to sound as convincing as possible in how unafraid she was of the Order. If you couldn’t scare a nine year old after all, how could you scare a galaxy into submission? “You may be wondering why you are seeing this child broadcast a political message across the systems, why am I anywhere near the equipment that’s used to broadcast such messages. I will tell you why. I am the daughter of the Last Jedi and the Supreme Leader. I have seen my home planet destroyed, I have seen many many casualties, and I have had to tell families that their loved ones are dead.” Her blood was starting to turn to ice. 

 

“Today, there was attacks on six hundred of our soldiers, six hundred soldiers that went on a mission to figure out where they had placed slaves so that they could save them at a later date. My mother, Rey, the Last Jedi. My uncle, Finn, my father’s lead diplomat, my friends, the lead pilot and aerotechnician, Rose Tico and Jessika Pava, were taken as prisoners of war after they sacrificed their places on a ship to wounded soldiers who also had families. My father was taken to the hospital due to a certain attack that General Hux exploited. The General may think that he backed the New Order into a corner, but I am still here. Leia Organa, one of the most famous Generals, one of the downfalls of the Empire, is still here. My father will get better. We will not bow to you. I am not afraid of a spineless, hate filled coward like you. I will find my mother. We will find you. And when you do you better pray that it’s not me who finds you. Because I will not show you mercy.” She could see Leia struggling with the door. She heard the podcast. 

 

“The New Order will not be deterred by you. We will continue to fight for free speech, free governing, better health care, and better education. We will continue to fight to make sure that every being in the galaxy lives the life that they deserve. We will not bend to fear. We will not bend to your demented version of peace. No good ruler requires billions of lives to be lost in order to achieve his goal. No good ruler requires people to fear him in order to gain respect. The New Order is saying right now that we do not fear you, nor do we respect you, or your ridiculous ideals. Our allies will continue to aid us in the fight against you, and we will not rest until you and the First Order are put out. Long live the Last Jedi. Long Live the Supreme Leader. Vi’Ra out.”

 

She had paid attention to every speech that her father had made. She used his words. She wanted to make him proud. The broadcast stopped and Leia ran through the door. “What the hell did you do?” She said, “You just put a target on your back.” 

 

“No one can fear a leader who can’t even scare a child.” Vi’Ra said. “I was addressing him, making sure that he knew that this wouldn’t affect us.” She was barely holding it together. She wanted her mother.  “I wanted to give my mother hope.”

 

* * *

 

_ Four Years Ago _

  
  


Rey came back after a particularly bad fight, and Vi’Ra was elated to see her. But she didn’t like the fact that when her mother came back, she was crying. It turned out that there had been a girl there that she had tried to save. A Twi’lek girl that reminded Rey of Vi’Ra. That girl had died as she had lead Rey through a tunnel under the fight, helping the New Order get the upper hand. “How can I protect you if I couldn’t protect her?” Rey said. “She was so bright, and then like that she was gone.” 

 

Vi’Ra was only five and just grasping death. Her mother apologised for putting this on her, but Vi’Ra told her that she didn’t need to apologise. “Mom, ever since you started helping out, the First Order hasn’t gotten anywhere close to our home. So you are protecting me.” Her mother was still crying. “And I’m sorry that that girl died, maybe she and I could’ve been friends. But I think that the thing that you should take away from her, is that you’re fighting for all kids like her and me to be free. Use her memory to make you stronger. Don’t worry about me. I’m as safe as can be,” 

 

Rey was still crying, but she looked at Vi’Ra, smiling. “You’re five years old.” She said. “Why do you talk like a forty year old scholar?” 

 

“Because I’m really awesome.” Vi’Ra said. 

 

“You are.” She said. “You’re the most amazing daughter ever, and I don’t know what I would do without you.”  

* * *

 

Vi’Ra was going to save her mother. At all costs.


	12. a somewhat happy middle

 

Rey refused being seen by a doctor. They had the chance to mess with her in a way that could make her unfixable, and to be honest, she’d rather die than have to live with the fact that the First Order changed something about her body. It was torture as soon as she got there, but her body had all but shut down at this point. For the longest time she wasn’t really sure what was happening until a tall red headed woman walked into her cell with food. She had a scar on her upper right lip and she looked young, really young. “You’re Rey, right?”

 

Rey looked up and blinked, her throat was so scratchy and dry that she couldn’t say anything. She just nodded. The woman came forward, setting the tray down and giving her the water. “Drink it slowly.” She said. “I sent our coordinates to the New Order, they’re coming to get us.” 

 

Rey sipped a little bit of water. “How can I trust you?” The woman brought out a small beacon. “That’s Rose’s.” 

 

“She told me to give it to you,” 

 

“I don’t know that you’re telling the truth.” The woman laughed. 

 

“Mm, you’re not as dumb as the General told me you are. Interesting. Are you ready for some more torture?” 

  
  


Kylo hadn’t woken up yet, and Leia had taken over everything for the time being. Vi’Ra was left mostly alone, and for a while she worked on trying to learn how to heal people through the Force. But then she heard of a rescue mission. A rescue mission to find the one hundred that had been missing. 

 

That night Vi’Ra pretended like she was sleeping next to her father’s bed and when Leia fell asleep, she woke up. “I’m going to go find mom, Dad. She’s going to be okay.” She whispered. She snuck out of the room shortly after. Making it down to the ships and getting inside before anyone could find her. 

  
  


The next day, someone else came in. A woman again, but she was half mechanical. Rey could hear the whirs of her breathing. “Who are you?” She asked. 

“You know who I am.” She said. “Phasma.” Rey’s blood went cold. How many ghosts were coming back? “Don’t mind my sister, she’s sadistic.” 

 

“Why are you here?” Her breathing whirred more, and Rey wanted to see her more, but she couldn’t. 

 

“The traitor asked me to tell you that you’re friends are alive.” 

 

“Are you lying to me too?” 

 

“I have no reason to lie,” Phasma told her. “To be honest, I’m not sure why Hux captured you, he could’ve just killed you instead, got the same results.” Rey rolled her eyes, Phasma kept talking. “I heard that you had a child.” Rey blinked. 

 

“I do,” Rey said. “A girl.” 

 

“With Kylo Ren?” 

 

“Yeah,” She could hear a sort of mechanical whirring that she interpreted as laughing. “Didn’t really plan on that happening, but it did.” 

 

“First time I saw him carry you onto our ship I knew there was trouble.” She said. “He really liked you, from the get go.” Rey blushed a little. Wondering if it had been that obvious to everyone else. “To be honest, I didn’t really care if you escaped. When I was really active in the Order, I was mostly concerned with the General and the Traitor. Not much else.” 

 

“Why were you in the Order?” Rey asked. 

 

“Because I had to be.” Phasma said. “Just like you had no choice in being a scavenger, I had no choice. Eventually I went up through the ranks, the General and I became friends, I loved him even. Not anymore.” Rey’s heart broke a little. “I uh, I’m just tired.” She said. “I want this all to end.” 

 

“You don’t have to stay with him,” Rey said. Her voice was low and hoarse. Phasma was silent for a moment. All that Rey could hear was her breathing. “We would take you back, we have medicine, we can get you better tech.” 

 

“You think I want to live a long life?” Phasma said. “No, that’s not my priority.” She walked into the light. She held Rey’s lightsaber in her hands. “I deleted intel of the incoming rescue ships that are coming for you and the others. Do not come out of your cell until I come for you.” She said. 

 

“Thank you,” Phasma took off her restraints. 

 

“Don’t worry about it.” She looked Rey up and down. “I’m going to make sure your friends are here to help carry you because, you’re in bad shape.” 

 

Rose had no idea what the fuck was going on, she was pretty sure she was about to lose her mind when the cell that was holding her and twenty other people got opened by none other than Rey’s kid. “Vi’Ra! What are you doing here?” 

“Looking for my mom, is she in there?” 

 

“No,” 

 

“Oh, well get up. We need to go. No one else has noticed that I’m here, everyone else is fighting right now.” Rose didn’t object to that. She and the other twenty people ran out the door. Some of them limping and some of them walking. “Do you know if my mom’s alive?” She asked. 

 

/ “The last time I saw her,” Rose reassured her. “She’s alright, she’s just hurt.” She went to the other doors, waiting. That’s when she she saw her. Someone she never wanted to see again. Phasma. Rose almost screamed but Vi’Ra went straight up to her, undeterred. 

 

“Rose, this is Phasma. She helped me find you,” 

 

“What?” The stormtrooper just stared down at Vi’Ra. Then looked up to Rose, “The traitor’s in the room next to you.” Rose turned and opened the door, happy to see that Finn was in fact still in live. The two of them hugged each other and kissed and Phasma made a sound that sounded like she was disgusted. 

 

“Vi’Ra.” Finn said. “What the hell are you doing here?” 

 

“Saving my mom.” Vi’Ra said decidedly. “You all smell bad. Is there anyone else?” She turned to Phasma. 

 

“You twenty are the only ones left, plus Rey.” They turned a corner and Phasma stopped for a minute before they turned another corner. Rose was too tired to question this sudden revolution, maybe Vi’Ra had her under the Force or something, who knew. Phasma opened the door and beckoned for someone to come out.” It was Rey. She had her lightsaber with her too.  

 

“Mom,” 

 

“Vi’Ra!” She grabbed her, holding onto her tight before her mother let go of her. “What are you doing here?” 

 

“I wanted to save you,” Vi’Ra said. 

 

“Does your dad know you’re gone?” 

 

“Dad is in a coma,” Vi’Ra said. 

 

“What?” Rose, Finn, and Rey said  simultaneously. 

 

“When you were being tortured or whatever, we could feel it through the Force, but Dad blocked it from me and he threw up and passed out.” 

 

“Enough with the stories,” Phasma said. “I can get you guys to the ship but you have to do everything else. The General cannot know I saw you. Also I recommend that she has some support walking, she hasn’t had surgery or any medical attention in days, and her torture has been most through electric shock, so her limbs aren’t the best.” 

 

“Right,” Rose put an arm under Rey and Finn did the same. They helped her, the other twenty forming a group around Vi’Ra as they avoided stormtroopers. Rey looked at Vi’Ra, giving her a smile. 

 

“I’m glad you're here.” She said. “But you have to promise me never to do this again,” 

 

“Don’t get abducted again.” Vi’Ra said. 

 

* * *

 

When Kylo woke up, Leia was in a frenzy, Vi’Ra was gone, and Rey was still gone and they had lost contact of the rescue ships. It was almost as soon as he was back up and running that the rescue ships were reported for docking and needing medical aid. Kylo and Leia both ran down to the docks to meet them. Finn and Rose came out first, and the Jesse, and seventeen others, and then a stretcher was rushed in, Rey came in on the stretcher with Vi’Ra right next to her. 

 

“Oh my god,” Ben said. 

 

“I’m okay,” Rey said. “I’m okay.” 

 

“Mom, you’re not okay.” She said. “You were shot four times and shocked with electroshock torture.” 

 

“I’ve been through worse,” Rey sounded a little loopy. “I gave birth to you, sweetie.” 

 

“I’ll try not to take offense to that.” Vi’Ra grimaced. She smiled as her dad came up next to them. Kylo didn’t bother yelling at her. He was just glad that the two of them were safe. A medbot whirred a long side Rey, beeping orders about surgery. Kylo asked Leia to take Vi’Ra to the hospital separately and he rode with Rey. One of the medbots stuck her with a little bit of morphine. 

 

“Hey.” She said. 

 

“Hey,” He smiled, she looked sick, but a lot better sick than dead. “I’m so glad you’re back.” She smiled as he caressed her cheek. “You have no idea how worried I was.” 

 

“You were probably really worried.” She said. “You do that a lot. You shouldn’t.” 

 

“I think that I’m going to worry about of you and Vi’Ra forever. Can’t change that. It’s my job.” Rey gave him a little smile. 

 

“God, fuck I love you so much.” Kylo tensed, he thought that maybe it was because of the medicine. But he never thought he would hear that at all, not again. 

 

“I love you too, Rey.” He smiled, “I love you a lot.” 

 

“I know.” Rey sniffed. “And so did everyone else. Apparently. Like everyone.” 

 

“Yeah, I’ve been told I’m not really good at hiding my feelings.” Rey nodded, agreeing with that statement. Kylo watched her go into surgery, met up with Vi’Ra and held onto her for all the time the surgery took. He saw Finn and Rose waiting attention from the medbots too. He went over to talk to the both of them. 

 

“Hey,” Finn said as soon as he saw them. “How are you guys? How’s Rey?” 

 

“She’s in surgery right now.” 

 

“My mom got shot a lot,” Vi’Ra added. Finn nodded. 

 

“Your mom knocked out a big portion of the stormtroopers that were attacking us.” Finn told her. “She’s really strong, really brave.” Vi’Ra smiled and nodded, then she went to Rose and hugged her. 

 

“My mom told me before she went that she wanted to go along to protect you. That she was going because you made her feel a lot less lonely and she wanted to make sure that you were alive. She loves you a lot. I’m glad you’re alive.” Rose started crying, and then so did Vi’Ra. 

 

Kylo kept it together for the time being. Just for the Vi’Ra. He was pretty sure that later he was going to have a mental breakdown. 

* * *

 

It was about twelve hours later that Rey was ready to see, and Kylo carried Vi’Ra asleep to go see her. She was awake and smiling. “How are you doing?” She said. She was happy and as sun shine-y as ever. 

 

“I’m good.” He said. “She’s asleep.” 

 

They sat down next to Rey’s bed and she smiled. “I missed her.” She said. “A lot. I missed you too.” Kylo smiled as Rey put her hand in his. “I really missed you, a lot.” 

 

“Rey—” 

 

“When I was there, on the battlefield, I thought that I wasn’t going to see you or Vi’Ra again. I just — I felt so stupid. Because I didn’t get to tell you that I don’t want things to be no strings attached anymore. Because I love you.” She said it again, and this time Kylo really started crying. “At first, when all of this started and Vi’Ra started contacting you. I thought that I could forgive you, but all this emotion that I didn’t want came back when I saw you, and I was scared. I was scared of getting hurt for so long that I denied myself time with the man that I really love. The man that I’ve always loved.” The both of them were crying.

 

Vi’Ra woke up. “Are you guys okay?” She yawned. 

 

“Yeah,” Rey said. “I was just asking daddy if he would marry me?” 

 

That perked Vi’Ra up. “Finally, dad. Say yes.” 

 

“I wanted to be the one to ask,” He said. Rey giggled a little. 

 

“Oh okay, redo.” Vi’Ra clung onto Kylo and watched as her dad seemed the happiest that she had ever seen him. 

 

“Okay,” He said. “Rey,” 

 

“Hmm?”

 

“I wanted to ask you something,”

 

“Oh really?” She asked. “I wonder what it is?” 

 

“I wanted to ask you to marry me, like tomorrow if you’re up for it. We can do it in here. I’m tired of waiting, and if you’ll allow me, I want to start calling you my wife.” 

 

“I’d love that.” Rey said. “With all my heart.” 


	13. in which Leia would be ecstatic, and Luke would have nightmares.

It was three weeks after the wedding and Rey healing that they started to have sex again. It was a week after the wedding that she noticed that she was gaining a little weight, but she brushed it off for the time being. It was the week after that that she threw up in the ‘fresher. Something was wrong. Something was so, so wrong. She didn’t know what to do at first. She was thankful that Vi’Ra was playing with Chewie and Kylo was off doing his politics stuff, because her mind was racing. “Rose,” She commed her when she had cleaned herself up. 

 

“Yeah,” Rose was still pretty tired, still recovering from the torture the First Order had brought down on everyone. 

 

“I need you to come here.” Rey said. She wanted to cry. 

 

“Okay,” That seemed more alert than before. She was there within the next three minutes and Rey just broke down, grabbing her and holding her close to her. “Hey, hey what’s wrong?” 

 

“I need you to walk down to the medbay with me.” Rey sniffed. Rose raised an eyebrow, looking at Rey. “Just, walk down to the medbay with me please.” Rose nodded, grabbing her hand and the two of them left the room. Rose squeezed Rey’s hand. 

 

“You okay?” 

 

“I feel like shit,” Rey said. 

 

“I can see that,” Rose said. “We’ll figure out what’s going on with you, okay? It’ll be okay.”  Rose’s voice calmed Rey down a little bit. She thought that she might be overreacting, but she felt so sick that she couldn’t rule out something else. She couldn’t rule out pregnancy. She wanted to rule it out. She wanted to ignore it, but she couldn’t. Rose walked her to one of the private medbot rooms and walked in with her. 

 

She turned it on for Rey and the thing started to examine her. Rose didn’t watch, but she waited there, and Rey was grateful for it. She didn’t want to hear what came next.  _ <<Illness Negative, Healthy, Temperature 97.8, Pregnancy Positive>> _ Rey felt like she was going to throw up again. This could not be happening. They were in the middle of a war this wasn’t supposed to happen. 

 

Rose turned, she was smiling, but her smile fell when she saw Rey’s face. “Let’s get you back home.” She said. She didn’t talk about it with Rey anymore after that. They went back to Rey’s apartment and watched holos and Rose cuddled with her. She got a comm from Finn asking her to come help him fix a ship. “I’m so sorry,” She said. “I have to go.” 

 

“It’s okay.” Rey said. “Go,” 

 

Rey didn’t know what she was going to tell Vi’Ra, who was she kidding, Vi’Ra would be thrilled. She didn’t know what she was going to tell Kylo. She knew he was going to be ecstatic, but she also knew what this meant, she wouldn’t be able to help out in the war anymore. Something that Rey liked to do. She wouldn’t be able to make sure that her friends were okay and she needed that more than anything. 

 

Vi’Ra came home when Rey started crying again. “Mom?” She dropped her bag and ran to the couch. “Mom, what’s wrong?” Rey tried her best to calm down, Vi’Ra wrestled her arms away from her face. “Hey, you need to breathe. In through your nose, out through your mouth.” She sounded so mature. Rey felt guilty that she didn’t get to be more of a kid. All she wanted was for her to grow up and get to be a kid. 

 

She listened to her daughter and calmed down, hugging her. “What’s wrong?” She asked. 

 

Rey had to tell her. “I’m pregnant,” 

 

“I can finally get a sister!” Vi’Ra exclaimed. Rey smiled, sadly. “You’re concerned about Rose and Finn.” She said. “You liked being with them, protecting them.” Rey nodded, her throat was too sore to speak. She felt dizzy. “I’m sorry,” She said. “Are you going to keep it?” 

 

“I—do you want me to keep it?” Rey asked. 

 

“Yeah,” She said. 

 

Part of Rey wanted to keep it too. “I’ll keep it then,” 

* * *

 

Before everything happened, before Kylo found out about his daughter, he had had a recurring nightmare over and over again and it never seemed to stop. The nightmare was rather simple. There would be days where Kylo wished the throne room had gone differently, where he wished Rey was still there by his side. Each time he wished that the nightmare would come back, and each time it would end differently, but just as badly. 

 

The first nightmare he had was the nightmare that haunted him most. Where Rey stayed and he corrupted her. Where Rey stayed and they had Vi’Ra but she wasn’t this ray of sunlight and sassiness, she was hellbent on destroying others, who didn’t appreciate her mother or father and constantly resented them, and Rey would end up dying. Kylo thought about that nightmare now as he ate dinner. Rey was quiet, but she kept looking at him like she wanted to say something but she was terrified. 

 

Vi’Ra’s eyes kept flickering to her mother and then back to him. The two of them were talking about something but they didn’t know what. Finally Rey pushed her plate back. “I can’t eat.” She said. 

 

“You barely touched your plate,” He said. “Is it not good?” 

 

“It’s great.” She said. “It really is, I just feel sick, I uh, need to go to the bathroom.” With that she got up and ran. Vi’Ra and Kylo were there sitting alone. He looked to her, trying to decipher what was in her head but she had it blocked off. She winced when they both heard Rey retching in the bathroom.

 

“Do you know what’s wrong with her?” He asked. 

 

“Ask her later.” She said. “When I’m in bed.” She kept eating, practically scarfing down her food in a fashion that was so similar to her mother that Kylo couldn’t help but smile as he watched her. “I’m going to go read.” She said. “Then go to bed. Love you dad.” She kissed him on the forehead and rushed up to her room before he could ask her anything else. 

 

Kylo got up from the table, sighing. He went over to the ‘fresher and knocked on the door. “Hey, you okay in there?” The throwing up had stopped but Rey hadn’t come out. 

 

“I need a minute.” She said. 

 

“Okay,” He said. “Is there anything I can help you with? Do you need me to save your dinner for later?” 

 

“Yes, please.” Her voice sounded tiny and meek. She must’ve been really sick. 

 

“I’m gonna have a droid deliver some ice cream and mints for later.” 

 

“What would the mints be for?” 

 

“The mints help nausea.” He said. “At least they do for me.” 

 

“Then a lot of those would be nice.” Rey said. Kylo leaned his head against the door. “I love you.” She told him. He smiled. He would never get tired of hearing that. 

 

“Wanna tell me what’s wrong?” 

 

“No,” She said. 

 

“Are you sure?” 

 

Pause. 

 

“Are you okay?” 

 

Pause. Silence. He didn’t know what was going on. 

 

“Rey.” 

 

“Can you sit down?” She said, still through the door. “Also I’m still kinda nauseous that’s why I haven’t opened the door yet.” He sat down. Not sure why. 

 

“I’m sitting.” 

 

“Good.” She said. “Because I’m pregnant.”


	14. twins

Kylo was glad to have Rey here with him. The first time Rey was pregnant, Kylo didn’t even know. He had never got to experience that for Vi’Ra. He certainly wasn’t going to miss out with that for this child. 

 

Rey, however, was not thrilled with the situation. Which was understandable, she was the one who was pregnant after all. She hadn’t spoken to Kylo in several days though, and he was starting to wonder if she was mad at him. “Are you okay?” He asked one night after Vi’Ra had gone to bed. Rey was tucked in, in bed. “Listen, I know that you want to be with Rose and Finn, and I know you’re worried but this is for the best.” 

 

She didn’t say anything. He couldn’t stand it. “Are you mad at me?” 

 

“No,” She said. “I’m not mad. Just nauseous. And depressed.” He felt a little bit relieved, at least she wasn’t mad at him. He understood if she was though. Especially with hormones. “I’m just worried about everything, you know?” 

 

“I get that,” He said, “but you gotta trust Rose and Finn, they’ll be fine.” Rey was quiet for a while, and Kylo wondered if she had gone to sleep, but she hadn’t. 

 

“Can you hold me?” He moved forward, wrapping his arms around her. He would be lying if he said that he didn’t want this. He loved the idea of having more kids, even if the timing was really, really inconvenient. He finally got to see her be pregnant. “I love you.” He said. 

* * *

 

Rey found out she was having twins after several weeks of getting sick over and over again. She and Leia were laying in bed and watching holos as she debated what to say to her. “I had my first sonogram today,” She said. 

 

“Really?” Rey nodded, still not sure how she felt about this. Part of her was filled with anxiety, another was mostly just tired. She couldn’t really feel happy about anything. It was frustrating. Maybe she would be more excited if there  wasn’t a war going on right now that could jeopardise the safety of her unborn children, and Vi’Ra. “And?” 

 

“I’m having twins.” 

 

“Oh my goodness! That’s great.” Leia hugged Rey, and some of her anxiety calmed down to that. “I’m going to have three grandchildren.” Rey was glad that Leia was excited, she really was, but more and more than that, she felt like such a burden. All she wanted to do was sleep, and she couldn’t contribute anything anymore. Every part of her hurt. “Are you okay, Rey?” Rey didn’t realise she was on the verge of tears. But she was, Leia asking her if she was okay was more than enough to send her over the edge. She started to cry, and she hated it so much. “Oh come here,” Leia pulled her in and let her cry on her shoulder. 

 

Rey pulled herself away from her. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s just that hormones kind of suck.” 

 

“Trust me,” Leia said, “I know. I know. You want to talk about it?” 

 

“It’s stupid.” Rey said, Leia gave her a look like the one she always gave Ben, and she knew what she was about to say.  _ If it’s making you this upset it’s not that stupid.  _ “I just, I’m so useless.” 

 

“What are you talking about?” Leia laughed, “You’re useless because you’re pregnant and taking a break from fighting because of it? Rey, that doesn’t make you useless. You’ve saved thousands of lives and that fight, that battle that you led with only one hundred soldiers, that actually made significant headway for us in being able to tell what numbers the First Order has. You’ve gotten us multiple shipments of weapons, you’ve brought my son back from the point of no return. You’re not useless. You’re a beacon of hope.” Rey was going to cry all over again. “You get a break. I know that you wanted more kids, so why not now, while you can have kids?” Rey nodded, that made sense. “Please do not call yourself useless, sweetheart. Okay?” 

 

“Okay,” Rey said. 

 

“Are you hungry?” 

 

“Yeah,” Rey told her. 

 

“Do you want ice cream?” 

 

“We don’t have any,” She said. 

“Well I can order some,” Leia said, “what flavor do you want?” 

 

“Coffee?” Leia nodded, not looking judgemental at all. “Give me a few minutes.” She told her. “I’ll be back. Just lay back and calm down, okay?” Rey nodded again. The one thing she was grateful for is that Leia had been through this before. Rey laid back, watching Leia go out. As if on cue, Vi’Ra came into the room. 

 

“You okay, mom?” She asked. 

 

“Yeah, honey.” She said. “How are you doing?” 

 

“I’m okay.” She clambered into her bed next to her mother, laying down next to her. 

 

“Do we have any holos that we could watch?” 

 

“Yeah,” Rey said. She gave Vi’Ra the remote to look over the holos to see what she wanted to watch. “I’m having twins.” She told her. It just slipped out, in the most unceremonious way possible. 

 

“Really?” Vi’Ra’s eyes grew wide. 

 

“Yeah, really.” Perhaps one of the things that she was worried about was Vi’Ra’s reaction. She knew that Vi’Ra wanted a sister more than anything, and she understood that, if Rey’s parents had been around she probably would have wanted a sibling too. 

 

“I’m still getting a sister, right?” 

 

“I don’t know yet,” She said. “Most likely.” 

 

“Cool,” Vi’Ra giggled. “Cool. I’ll help change diapers when they come out of there.” Rey laughed. Sometimes she forgot how amazing her child was. 

 

“That’s pretty gross, are you sure you wanna help?” 

 

“Well I mean, you had to change my diapers so I guess it’s kind of payback.” Vi’Ra wrinkled her nose and shuddered. “You must have PTSD from having to change my diapers. I feel like I would.” That only made Rey laugh more. 

 

“I love you kid,” She kissed her daughter on the forehead. “I love you more than anything.” 


	15. a new girl

 

Vi’Ra and Kylo were practicing forms in the gym for an hour before Vi’Ra actually messed up. She was doing so good. “What happened?” He asked. She looked distracted, to say the least. And then he saw her. There was a girl about Vi’Ra’s age that had been cleaning gym equipment who was staring at the both of them. Staring at Vi’Ra. “I’m gonna go check on your mom,” He said, “you uh get some water.” He left the room curtly, he didn’t want to be that dad. 

 

Rey was in bed, watching a holo with a sour expression on her face. He wouldn’t blame her though. Being three months along with twins proved to be — a challenge to say the least. “Hey,” He said, “what’s wrong?” 

 

“I’m hungry and my back hurts.” She said. He frowned and nodded, watching her squirm on the bed. Two months into Rey being pregnant, they had a scare where she started spotting in the middle of the night and Kylo took her to the ER to make sure she was okay. In the end she still had the babies but she was sentenced to bedrest because the stress of worrying about Finn and Rose and everything else was harming her babies. She hated staying still, but even after she was given a little bit of time to move around more, she was still tired and wanted to stay in bed. 

 

“What do you want to eat?” He asked. 

 

“Food,” He laughed, laying down next to her. She looked a little more than irritated but that subsided when he kissed the swell of her stomach. She put her hand in his hair, stroking his scalp as he closed his eyes. “Ice cream.” 

 

“Mm, okay. I’ll get you some.” 

 

“And can you massage me?” She asked. 

 

“Of course.” 

* * *

 

Vi’Ra had never really noticed people before, but she noticed this girl. Her hair was a bright fiery red and sly but shy smile. “You were good,” The girl said, “with the fighting. Sorry I distracted you.” Vi’Ra blinked, remembering that she had to form words, and then she smiled. It was probably somewhere near a smirk though. 

 

“It’s okay,” She said. “I needed a break anyway.” The other girl smiled again, cleaning down a benchpress. “What’s your name?” 

 

“Jin’Ya.” The girl answered. 

 

“I’m Vi’Ra.” 

 

“I know who you are.” The girl said. “I saw you,” She told her. “A while ago. When you made that speech against the General.” She didn’t say his name, Vi’Ra wondered why. Hux was just a man, and nothing more. “You were so brave and I just, I used to be in the Stormtrooper program. They took me away from my village and—well let’s just say that I was starting to let that training get to me. When I saw you me and a few others got brave and we stole some ships. I’m the only one who got away.” 

 

“Wow,” Jin’Ya started wiping things down harder, trying not look at Vi’Ra. “You’re really brave.” 

 

“If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have been able to do it.” She said. “Thank you.”  Vi’Ra felt her cheeks burn as she watched this girl.  _ Think, think, think.  _

 

“Tell me more about yourself.” Vi’Ra said. “I want to know everything.” 

* * *

 

Rey was enjoying a massage from Kylo when he told her, “I think our daughter has a crush on a girl.” Rey stopped. She felt a warm feeling in her chest. She smiled. 

 

“Really?” 

 

“Yeah.” Kylo said, “remember the way I looked at you in the forest. It was like that. She got distracted and fell flat on her butt during practice.” 

 

“Awe,” Rey said, “That’s so cute. Ugh, she’s growing up too fast.” 

 

“I know, right.” The two of them giggled and Rey fell back on Kylo. She felt so bloated and tired and she just wanted to sleep. Kylo placed one hand on her belly and held her. She wondered why he liked her so much like this, especially when every time she looked in the mirror she felt like she looked sweaty or sick. 

 

“Don’t act weird about the girl.” Rey told her, “If she has a crush, and it gets serious and she brings her around, she brings her around, but don’t ask about her or make her embarrass her. She has a lot on her plate.” 

 

“I won’t be  _ weird. _ ” He rolled his eyes. 

 

“Ben,” 

 

“Fine,” He said, “I won’t bring her up. But you can’t allow me to not be excited.” Rey rolled her eyes and kissed him. 

 

“You’re a good dad.” She said. “But please, please, please don’t do it overboard.”

 

“I won’t.” He paused, “Can I embarrass her a little bit?” 

 

“No.” 

 

“But that’s supposed to be every parent’s job.” Rey didn’t need to do anything more that stare at him and he stopped. Telling Rey that he was going to go practice forms with her more, but the door to their apartment opened and Vi’Ra came through. Kylo smiled as she peeked into the room. 

 

“Hey, Mom.” She jumped into bed with Kylo and her. “How are you doing?” She hugged her and Rey smiled. 

 

“Oh, I’m alright. Just tired. You?” 

 

“Tired,” Vi’Ra said. “I made a new friend though.” 

 

“Really?” She tried not to sound suspicious. 

 

“Yeah, her name is Jin’Ya.” 

 

“That’s awesome, sweetie.” Vi’Ra got out of bed again. 

 

“Aren’t Finn and Rose coming back today for a visit?”  _ Shit, she forgot.  _

 

“Yeah,” Rey said, “I think that they are.” Vi’Ra’s eyes lit up. She had missed them about as much as Rey had. And Rey didn’t blame her. Rose taught her how to fix ships and Finn taught her how to shoot a blaster. Rose and Finn had been her first friends. Like they had been Rey’s first friends too. She started to try and move out of bed. 

 

“What are you doing?” 

 

“Getting up so we can get dressed and go meet them.” 

 

“You got sick on the last car ride we had.” Kylo said. “I think it’s better to wait.” She stopped, remembering the overwhelming nausea that she had. 

 

“Don’t worry.” Vi’Ra interrupted her momentary pause of sadness. “I’ll go bring them back here. It won’t take that long either.” She kissed her mother on the head. “Just sit here and rest with dad.” 

* * *

  
  


Finn had these pauses where everything from the Stormtrooper program just caught up with him and he didn’t know what to do about it. This was one of those times. He hadn’t known that there were new stormtroopers, besides the ones that had broken off from the New Order, he didn’t know that the First Order began kidnapping people from their home again and killing their parents. 

Everything started to close in on him as they went back to the New Order. They were so lucky — being away from all the war, being sheltered and given therapy and fed. Sometimes when he came back he forgot how bad the rest of the universe had it. It hurt to think about when he got a reality shock though. 

 

He had been comming Kylo and sending him messages though. Something he would have never thought he would being doing back in the First Order. But over the years when Kylo was upset and missed Rey, he would go to Finn, and Finn would listen because he knew that Rey had loved him enough to spare him in the forest, to spare him in the throneroom. And something had always told him that Kylo wasn’t really a bad guy. Something told him that what had happened to him had happened to Kylo too. And it did. 

 

That’s how they became friends. 

 

“ _ Rey really misses you and Rose. Are you going to come home soon?”  _

 

Somehow, Kylo was a little easier to talk to than Rose could be sometimes. Maybe it was because Finn hated worrying Rose. He hated doing anything that would upset her because he loved her so much. Her being upset was him being upset. But Kylo knew what that was like. 

 

_ “Yeah, I think that we need to stop and rest and see you guys. Rose really misses Rey too. How’s Rey doing by the way?”  _

 

_ “This pregnancy is hard on her.”  _

 

Finn closed his eyes. “Are you okay?” Rose asked. She knew what  was wrong. 

 

“There were kids being taken and we couldn’t stop it.” 

 

“ _ Is there something that you want to talk about?” _

 

_ “There’s a lot that I want to talk about.” He said. “I think we need to make more of an effort to liberate the troopers. But we can talk about that when we get home.”  _

 

_ There was some laughing in the background. “Sorry, that was Vi’Ra. She said that you better get her something for when you come back.” He did actually. He got her a big basket of preservable sweets from one of the planets they had visited. _

 

“I know.” Rose said, “but we’ll save them. We always do.” 

 

“Yeah.” He said. “Right.” 


	16. Beginning of the End

Vi'Ra asked Jin'Ya and Finn about Stormtroopers. Each time she learned more and more about them the more heartbroken she became. "They killed my parents in front of me." Jin'Ya told her. "I was five, at the time." That reminded Vi'ra of how lucky she was to have her mother and father. That they gave her a chance to shine and protected her as much as possible. So many kids didn't have that.

 

They didn't have that as kids.

 

So many people were abused and corrupted and forced to do things that they would never want to do and it broke Vi'Ra's heart more than anything. These Stormtroopers didn't have a support system. They didn't have anyone that was going to go save them.

 

Vi'Ra wanted to save them.

 

But it wasn't that simple, like Finn told her. Kylo's allies weren't willing to send soldiers to liberate them, they hadn't been there long enough to brainwash them completely, but they didn't have the manpower at this point in the war to do something. The First Order was rebuilding itself and rebuilding itself faster than ever.

 

"Okay," Vi'Ra said. "Than why don't we liberate them." Finn stared at her.

 

"The two of us?"

 

"No, silly." Vi'Ra said. "Rose and Jin'Ya and Chewie too," Finn raised an eyebrow. "I snuck onto a ship to help save my mother and got Phasma to go against General Hux to help us. I could do it. I think it would help you feel a lot better too."

 

"You're just like your parents, kid. " Finn said. "But I'm not sure that you going would be the best option. Especially with your mom already being stressed from the pregnancy and everything."

* * *

 

Vi'Ra never knew a life outside of her home planet. She and her mother lived alone here, and Vi'Ra had never really thought about the fact that there was a life outside of this planet. It was green, and beautiful. Filled with crumbling buildings and places to climb and play and things that were all too big to a four year old girl. She would play pirates with her mother and collect fish to eat and read. And she was happy like that.

 

She wasn't sure if her mother liked it here as much as she did though. Sometimes she would wake up crying and Vi'Ra was there. She would make her mother feel better, wrapping her tiny hands around her and squeezing her tightly. And everything was ok.

 

Everything was ok.

 

Rey missed that more than anything. She worried about Vi'Ra more than anything. It was a feeling that only mothers knew. How intense and painful that worry felt.

 

Vi'Ra wasn't on base. She felt it the second she woke up. It was a feeling that she had when she was further away from her daughter than usual. Something in the Force wasn't right and it tugged at Rey's brain so intensely. Kylo came in a few minutes later as she was trying to make her way out of bed. "Rey, woah what are you doing?"

 

"Do you know where Vi'Ra is?" She managed to wriggle out of bed and started walking towards him. "She's not here and I don't, I don't know what to do." She was starting to panic. Where could she have gone?

 

"What?"

 

"She's not here, Kylo. I felt it. She's not here." She was starting to tear up, her chest was getting tight and she felt nauseous. "She's not here, I need to know where she is."

 

"Rey, you need to calm down."

 

"I will calm down when she is here and she is safe, Kylo. I need to know where my babygirl is." Rey was almost crying now.

 

"Hey, hey, hey. I know, I know. You're worried, but you have two little humans in there that have already put you through a lot and we really do not want something happening like what happened previously, okay? So lay back down in bed please." Rey blinked, listening to what he said. "She's not here, but I will find out where she is and I will bring her back okay, you just need to trust me. Trust me."

 

Rey nodded after awhile. "Sorry," She started crying. "Sorry. I just have a bad feeling. God, I don't know where she is, how can I fucking raise two more kids when I don't know where my first kid is? I'm such a bad mom."

 

"Woah, okay. First of all, You have no reason to be sorry sweetheart. Second of all, you are not a horrible mother. You are the best mother out there and if she's off base that isn't your fault." He kissed her on the forehead. "You are so so strong and its okay, I'll find her. But you need to do me a favor and trust me and lay back and relax."

 

"Okay," She sniffed. "I just hate having to sit here,"

 

"I know," Kylo said. "But it'll be okay. I'll call Leia to help you, I'll go out and find her."

* * *

 

Vi'Ra went with Finn, Rose, Chewie and Jin'Ya. They would liberate the Stormtroopers. All of them, because they were all stronger together. "You know you didn't have to do this." Vi'Ra sat next down to Jin'Ya.

 

Part of her wanted to forget everything and just stare at her for awhile. She was so cute, and Vi'Ra couldn't help but just wonder how she was able to be like that. "You could have stayed home if you wanted." Vi'Ra held her mother's lightsaber in one hand, clutching it near her.

 

"I wasn't just going to stay home." Jin'Ya said. "When you were going to." She blushed and so did Vi'Ra. "You're pretty cool, and I don't want you to get hurt."

 

"You're sweet." Vi'Ra said. "I didn't want to not have you here either," She was nearly stumbling over her words. "You make me feel braver to be honest." Jin'Ya cocked her head to the side momentarily.

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"I mean that you're inspiring. Surviving being a Stormtrooper and all that makes me feel brave."

 

Jin'Ya shook her head. "I'm not inspiring." She said. "You are inspiring. You're so smart and strong and pretty and I just," She fumbled with a button on her shirt. "I'm glad you're my friend." They had known each other for three weeks but it was already like they knew everything about each other.

 

Rose walked into the room carrying some ration bars. "You girls hungry?" She asked. Vi'Ra was kind of disappointed that their time was interrupted, but her stomach didn't mind it. Besides, they probably weren't going to get a lot to eat for awhile.


	17. stormtrooper rebellion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> my depression has been a bitch so every time i have tried to write this chapter i ended up deleting it, we are approaching the end though so i thought that i wouldn't delay this chapter any longer. here's a semi decent version of my idea, i understand why no one is comment on this fic anymore though it's not as good as it started out

"You girls hungry?" Rose asked. Vi'Ra and Jin'Ya were in fact starving, Vi'Ra had left before dinner and she missed her father's cooking dearly, she missed her mother's laugh and smile and she knew right now she was probably hurting her so bad. She would make it up to her. Getting the Stormtroopers on the side of the New Order would tip the war in their favor, her siblings could live in peace and her mom would be safe. She just wanted a world where her mom didn't have to worry.   
She would make it up to her.   
She didn't want to disappoint her parents. 

"Are you okay?" Rose asked. Vi'Ra was silent. She didn't want to talk about anything like this before they did something that would risk their life. "You know you don't have to do this right? You can go back to Kylo and Rey and we can try this on our own."

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

Jin'Ya put her hand over hers, squeezing it tightly. "Yes." Vi'Ra said. "I'm fine." Rose nodded. 

"I'm going to work on the ship's oscillator." Rose said. "You girls get something to eat and then talk to Finn about our gameplan, okay?"

"Okay,"

The first thing that was decided was that it would be easiest to go about this by stopping at one of the planets that docked the most trainees, meaning that they would liberate mostly teenagers who were still in training. It was easier to sway the opinion of someone who hadn't been brainwashed as long as adults, but once one thing fell, so would the next. 

At least Vi'Ra hoped that that would happen. She really didn't know which way this was going to go. And she didn't really want to think about it that much either, so she didn't.    
  


* * *

  
Phasma knew that something was off as soon as the new shipment of kids came down. She had come to temporarily oversee some things after Hux and her had had a very nasty fight about the right strategies to make in this war. She was tired. She just didn't want to be around him anymore.  
She saw her. The Skywalker kid. Again. That child was insane. And definitely up to something. She made eye contact with Phasma too.   
_Please. Her eyes begged. Please don't say anything._

Phasma turned a blind eye, hoping that she had some adult supervision somewhere nearby. Her joints hurt. Her lungs hurt. She just wanted to lay down and forget all of the bullshit that was about to happen. And things did happen. 

Everything went to shit about an hour later, kids stopped responding to the training that they were supposed to endure, and Phasma didn’t really care. She was too tired for any of this shit. She supposed that maybe she should get out there and fight, make sure that the General wouldn’t mistake her for being disobedient against him, but she felt that maybe this was it. Maybe it was time for her to just hang her helmet and give up. 

And then she saw the kid again, amidst the outstanding uprising. She was holding her mother’s lightsaber of all things, and was trying to clear a path for some kids that were obviously scared out of their minds. She wasn’t going to last that long if no one helped her. 

So, for once, Phasma did. She downed around ten soldiers, letting Vi’Ra and the kids get down the path more and more. She met up with them at the next base. “Thank you so much.” Vi’Ra hugged Phasma. “Thank you.” Phasma wasn’t sure what to do that. 

“Do you have a plan?” 

“Maybe?” Phasma wanted to laugh. These Resistance types got by by winging it. And when things went awry, well — “we just need to get out of here.” Vi’Ra told her. “Please, please help us, come with us. You could be safe with us and we wouldn’t make you fight if you didn’t want to fight. We could get you regular doctor attention and you could do whatever you wanted. You could be my friend.” 

Something in Phasma’s heart broke, that was a fantasy, yes. But it was something that she didn’t deserve. She should have died by now. She had wanted to die the last time she helped her. She would help her again though, and she would make sure that this kid got to where she needed to go. There were tunnels that lead to the hangar that would get her and the kids to safety. She didn’t know about the adults, and she didn’t particularly care either. 

* * *

 

Vi’Ra had signed up for more than she had bargained for, but in a way, she liked it. She liked feeling like she was making a difference. She saw the older Stormtroopers starting to turn too, and she could hear chants of wanting freedom. 

 

_ Our Judgement is coming soon.  _

_ If we lose our bitter angels,  _

_ We won’t get them back again.  _

 

_ ` _ She let Phasma lead them and the both of them cut down those that were trying to end them. 

 

_ Come on and raise your voice _

_ Above the raging sea _

_ We can’t hold our breath forever _

_ If our brother’s cannot breathe _

 

She would get back to her mother. She would get back to her father. She would make sure that everyone was safe and she would make sure that everyone was okay. She just wanted everyone to be safe. She wanted her siblings to be safe. That’s all she wanted. 

* * *

  
  


She came home. Rey watched her get off the ship with Finn and Rose and Chewie and that crush of hers. Once she saw her mother, she started crying. Rey put her arms out towards her and she came to hug her. “You worried me.” Rey didn’t raise her voice. She didn’t want to. “Don’t do that again, okay?” Vi’Ra nodded. Rey didn’t look at Rose or Finn. She didn’t want to talk to either of them right now. She just wanted to get her daughter home safe and clean her up. 

She could feel Kylo’s tenseness behind her. 

_ Calm down.  _ He was trying. He really was. He hadn’t said a thing yet. The both of them stepped in the car together. 

“Am I in trouble?” 

“No,” 

“Yes.” 

“No.” Rey looked sternly at Kylo. “She’s not.” 

* * *

 

Everything was going good for a while. And then they got surrounded. Things happened and blurred together and Vi’Ra couldn’t remember anything, but she remembered screaming, and those who were threatening dropping to the ground. Phasma had gotten shot and Vi’Ra was so scared. More scared than she had ever been before. 

“No, no, no.” She stumbled and got over to Phasma as fast as she could. “No, okay hold on. We can get you to a medbay or something.” 

“I don’t think that there’s a point anymore, kid.” She said. “You got rid of the threat. You need to go.” 

“You were going to come with us.” 

* * *

 

“Do you not remember how sick you were worried about her?” Vi’Ra nearly cried. She had never heard her dad mad before. It wouldn’t matter what happened. Even though she had gotten four hundred teenager and over a thousand adults who were defecting over to the New Order’s army. 

“She’s here now.” Rey said. Her voice was icy and chill. “I just want to go home and have dinner. That’s all I want to do. Look at her. She knows that what she did was wrong, she knows not to do it again. There is no point in punishing her when she could have died. The ones we should be mad at are the ones that took her there in the first place.” 

Kylo was silent for a while, and Rey grimaced, putting her hand on her stomach. “Are you okay?” 

“I’m fine,” Rey smiled uneasily. “They’re kicking. That’s all.” 

* * *

  
  


“No, you agreed that you were going to go with me.” Vi’Ra said. “You said that you would be my friend.” 

“I didn’t say anything of the sort.” Phasma’s breathing was low. She didn’t have long. “But thank you. For thinking that I deserved that sort of thing. I don’t.” 

“You just redeemed yourself, of course you do. You can’t die. Come on, come on. Please. Stay awake for me.” 

“You’re going to make a good leader someday, kid. Far better than your father or any of your friends could ever be.” 

* * *

  
  


“I should be punished.” Vi’Ra said. “I made you sad.” She looked to her mother and then to her father. The both of them looked like they were going to cry. “I’m sorry if you hate me now.” She said. “I just, I couldn’t stay here and know that there were people being treated the way they were. I had to do something.” 

Kylo did start crying, Rey went next. “Neither of us could ever hate you, kid.” Kylo said. “We were just worried sick about you. But just because we were worried doesn’t mean we would ever hate you.” Vi’Ra passed the other side of the car to hug her father. She missed his embrace so much. “You did a good job,” He told her, “and look, you see that woman over there. Your mother, you mean the world to her. And you mean the world to me too. Neither of us could ever, ever hate you, and I don’t want you to ever think that either of us do, okay? Please don’t ever think that.” 

“I’m sorry I said that.” Vi’Ra hated seeing the both of them cry. She hated seeing her mother cry. She hated it all. “Just, please stop crying,” 

“Okay,” Kylo said, “we will. We can go home and eat and watch some holos.”

 

* * *

 

She died. Phasma died. There were tons of dead soldiers in the hall. The others were standing back. Jin’Ya was the first one to find her. “We need to go.” She told Vi’Ra. Vi’Ra nodded and got up. She felt blank. “Come on, Vi’Ra. The hangars are that way. We can everyone to the bases and then go back.” 

* * *

 

After Rey and Vi’Ra were asleep, Kylo went to do some paperwork. Finn knocked on his door. “Come in,” He said. He felt stiff again. Tension was building in his shoulders, but he still was nowhere as mad as he thought he would be. “What do you want?” 

“I came in to apologise.” 

“Okay,” 

“About Vi’Ra, and I shouldn’t have done what I did and I wasn’t thinking.” Kylo remembered when Finn had first been diagnosed with PTSD. He remembered the times that Finn would go to him and tell him about big lapses in his judgement and how he wished that he could control them but no matter how hard he tried there were times that he couldn’t control it. “And I know that it’s not an excuse. I know that I shouldn’t have done what I did, I just, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, and I understand if you don’t want to be my friend anymore—” Kylo put his hand up. 

“It’s fine.” 

“I—” 

“Finn, it’s fine. I was mad for like an hour or two but I’m glad that you’re alive. I’m glad that you and Rose are alive. But I suggest that you two take off some time from fighting. Just rest,” He looked up at Finn. “I don’t think that I could stop being your friend after everything that you’ve helped me through. Just, don’t do this again, okay?” 

“Okay,” Finn said. “Thank you.” 

“Go home.” Kylo told him. “You must be tired.” 


	18. births

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a trash chapter lol, same deal as last time, not updating until I get at least 5 comments this time.

**Five Years Later**

 

Rey was barely awake when Aurora climbed into bed with her, and shortly afterwards, her brother Finn. "Where's daddy?" Aurora asked. Rey told her he was working on something important and was probably going to be late. They asked her what he was working on and she was so tired that she was pretty sure she just told them to go to bed and they did. She drifted to sleep shortly after, still waiting for Kylo and Vi'Ra to come home. 

* * *

 

**_Five Years Ago_ **

 

Rey's water broke some time around midnight and she was pretty sure that she was the calmest one about it. Kylo was freaking out so she just sort of tuned him out as they were on their way to the hospital, breathing in and out as best as she could. This time was different. He was there. Vi'Ra was there. 

 

 

"Mom," Vi'Ra said, "are you okay?" She was holding her hand. Her voice was very steady. She was such a grown up. 

 

"Yeah," Rey closed her eyes. "I'm good."

* * *

 

**Five Years Later**

 

"What you're doing is beyond stupid," Vi'Ra said. Vi'Ra was fifteen now and more vocal than ever. Sometimes that was hard for Kylo, even though he appreciated it more than anything. "Not moving in on the Order while they're meeting with Mandalore is the stupidest thing I have ever heard."

 

"We need to avoid excess casualties," He gritted his teeth. 

 

"The Order doesn't care about that, why should we?" 

 

"We are not the Order, Vi'Ra." Kylo said. "I appreciate your enthusiasm but this is the end of the discussion. Now go home. You need to sleep."

 

"You're making a mistake."

 

"And as your father I'm asking you to go home." Vi'Ra rolled her eyes and left. Kylo knew that she was mad at him, and he knew why. He would want to go in and do that too if he wasn't cautious. He had to be cautious. It was something that he had learned with age. It had taken him so long to grow up, for his mentality to change and evolve and he tried so hard. He tried so hard to get better and change for his people. For Vi'Ra and Aurora and Finn now too. He got done around one in the morning, going home to see Vi'Ra asleep on the couch. 

 

Rey was in the bedroom. Both kids were asleep but she wasn't. Hey. 

 

Hey. 

 

You and Vi'Ra were arguing?

 

Yeah. 

 

Do I wanna know?

 

No. 

 

* * *

 

**_Five Years Ago_ **

 

The birth was hard. She was in labor for around fifteen hours and Kylo was a mess, trying to help her but ultimately just stressing the both of them out more. At some point Rey was on the verge of panic and Kylo had to leave the room. His emotions weren't helping. But they were born, and he couldn't believe it. They were the most beautiful babies he had ever seen in his life.

 

One boy and one girl. 

 

"You're a good dad." She held the boy in her arms. He held the girl. "I forgot we haven't thought of names."

 

“Right, they do need names.”

 

"Should we name him after your father?" Rey asked. Kylo wrinkled his nose.

 

"I'd like him to be more than a smuggler."

 

 “Just because they share doesn’t mean that they’ll be the same. Plus, we’ll love home no matter what he becomes.”

 

"Can that be his middle name?"

 

"Fine." She said. "Do you have any other ideas?"

 

"You know this is probably stupid because I know he's living but Finn joked about naming the kid after him and I was kind of thinking...if we're going to name our kid after someone, it should be him."

 

“Really?”

 

"Yeah." He said. "Really."

 

“I like it.”

 

 "Me too." Kylo was still on the verge of crying. "And for her?" He nodded down at the girl in his arms who was half asleep.

 

"You know," Rey said, "there was a word, I learned on Jakku. It was the name of a ship that I scavenged. One of the women who scrubbed parts told me it meant new beginning."

 

"What is that word?"

 

"Aurora." She said. "I think we should name her Aurora."

 

"Aurora it is."

 

* * *

 

**Five Years late** r

 

The New Order was waring thin on resources, and so was the First Order. Rey tried to focus more on her children more. She was so tired of fighting. She just wanted to stay with Aurora and Finn and raise them as normally as she could. 

 

"Vi'Ra's mad again, Mommy." Finn said. 

 

"I can tell,"

 

" _I swear, if you would just listen to me for once-"_

 

Vi'Ra and her dad were shouting again. They usually did that, arguing about politics. "Why is she mad all the time?" He asked. 

 

_"-I may be younger but that doesn't mean my ideas are automatically wrong."_

 

"I don't know sweetie," She said, "what are you drawing?"

 

_"You're not listening! I listen to your ideas but I am not the only one who decides how to do this war!"_

 

"Flowers." He said. 

 

"Aah!" Aurora brought the foam training sword Vi'Ra had fashioned her up above her head and swing it viciously. "I'm a Jedi!"

 

"Thats really nice."

 

"Mom, I want a lightsaber."

 

"When you're sixteen." Rey answered. 

 

"Why?"

 

"Because I don't want you to cut your arm off and I don't think you want to do that either, do you?" 

 

"No. I like my limbs. I guess you're right."

 

"I am."

 

"I'm gonna go play Jedi with Vi'Ra." 

 

"She's arguing with her dad right-" She was already gone. Rey sighed and turned back to Finn. 

 

"You know I appreciate how calm you are." She said. "It's really nice."

 

"I try mommy," He said. "Now, do you want to draw flowers with me?"

 

"That sounds delightful."

 


	19. the world turned upside down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yo this probably shit but i have a sinus infection sorry

     Vi'Ra put her head on Jin'Ya's shoulder. "What's wrong?" Jin'Ya asked. Vi'Ra wasn't sure that she wanted to start ranting about her father right now. But Jin'Ya was patient. She listened to what she said, even if she was wrong about it. 

   

    "Just disagreeing with my father again," Vi'Ra said, "it's just been stressful." 

 

    "Oh," Jin'Ya sighed. "I get that." 

 

    "I know that his idea was the better thing, I do, but it's just that he never listens to me and he discounted what I said the second I suggested it. He didn't think about it at all. I want people to stop treating me like a kid and take me seriously." Jin'Ya put her hand over Vi'Ra's. "I mean, I can do a lot more than regular people can."

 

    "I know," Jin'Ya whispered, "you're amazing. But I think that maybe you need to cut your dad a break. He's really stressed right now and we all know that we're running low on weapons." Vi'Ra knew that she was right, and she hated it. "But let's talk about something else right now. Thinking about that makes me stressed and I bet you're already stressed enough," 

 

    "What do you want to talk about?" 

 

    "I don't know." Her voice was a little bit shaky. "A lot of things." 

 

     Vi'Ra took her head off her shoulder. "Oh?" 

 

    "Um, yeah. So, we've known each other for five years, right?" 

 

    "Right," They had almost died together so many times, "That's a long time." 

 

    "It really is," Jin'Ya said. "And you've been just the best thing to happen in my life, ever. You're so nice and you're so smart and strong and passionate about everything-" Her sentence was interrupted by a big shadow coming over the biosphere. Vi'Ra's stomach dropped. There was a ship looming over them. A beam was fired at the ship, hitting the first of eight force fields that had been installed. It rocked the whole planet. 

 

    "We need to get inside now," Vi'Ra grabbed Jin'Ya's hand and pulled her inside. 

* * *

    

    Rey felt the entire building shake and Finn started crying. Aurora looked around, not really sure what was happening. Rey scooped Finn up, wishing that Kylo was there to tell her what was going on. Vi'Ra and Jin'Ya came to the door.

 

     "We need to evacuate," She said, "now." She scooped up Aurora too and the both of them started running. Where are you?

 

I'll be there soon. You need to evacuate, now. 

 

Why do I feel like you're not coming?

 

I'll be there soon. 

 

You better be. 

* * *

 

"What's going on?" Aurora asked Vi'Ra as they ran down the hallway. "Where's dad?" 

 

"I don't know," Vi'Ra said. Her heart was beating. She didn't want to think about what would happen in he wasn't on the evacuation ship. Leia met up with them. "Where's my dad?" 

 

"He's not with you?" 

 

"No," Vi'Ra's heart dropped. He was going to do something really stupid. She could just tell. Rey was far ahead of her. "I need you to take her." She handed Aurora off to her. "Get her to the evac ship. I'll be back." 

 

She ran with Jin'Ya before Leia had time to stop her from going. Vi'Ra had to get her father out of here. 

* * *

 

Rey was to the evac ship by the time she realized that Vi'Ra was missing. And so were Finn and Rose.  Vi'Ra, you need to get back here right now. No response. Panic started to set in. She looked to Finn. "I need you to stay with Leia."

 

"No!" He screamed. "No, mommy." He was still crying. They had five minutes at most. 

 

"I'm so sorry, kid." She used the force to knock him out, and strapped him in to a seat. She booked it before Aurora could ask any questions. She had to be quick. Something in her was pumping her body to go as hard she could possibly go. It wasn't right if they weren't all there. They all had to be there.   

 

She could sense where they were. She knew that she would get them back to ship. She could do this. 

 

She didn't want to think about what would happen if she didn't. She couldn't think about that. Not now. She had worked too hard to finally getting her family and herself into a happy place. 

 

She would do what needed to be done to get them back. She found him at the control center with Finn, Rose, Vi'Ra and Jin'Ya. Vi'Ra was crying. Vi'Ra hadn't cried in a very long time. "You need to go," Kylo said. "Finn, get her out of here."

 

"I am not going unless you're coming with me."

 

"You need to listen to her, man. You have a family. We need to get out of here. They're already starting to work on the second shield. It's not going to go down well." Rey didn't say anything. This is what he wanted. He wanted to see if Hux would face him. Rey wasn't going to let that happen. She raised her hand, she did what he had done to her the first time they met. He dropped to the ground and she ran forward to catch him. 

 

"Help me get him to the ship," Finn and Rose ran forward to help. "We need to go." 

* * *

 

Rey watched Kylo wake up on the evac ship. Aurora was in his lap gripping his sides, she was half asleep, Finn was in his mother's lap. Not really thrilled with what she had done earlier. She was going to apologize to him later. "Hey," She said. He was slow to wake up, but he didn't look happy when he came completely to. 

 

"Hey," They didn't talk for a long time. They didn't need to. Kylo already knew what he tried to do was dumb. He knew that Rey wasn't going to let that happen. She never let it happen. "We need to find a planet to regroup. Some place where we have the upper hand when we face him." She told him when they were sure they had gotten out of the fire fight. 

 

"You're going to a safehouse." Kylo said. "Lie low with Vi'Ra and the kids." 

 

"I am not going to a safehouse." Vi'Ra snapped. 

 

"Vi'Ra, please. Not now."

 

"What?" She said. "You would've died back there if wasn't for me and mom." 

 

 

"Vi'Ra, just accept that the answer is no." 

 

"Mom," 

 

"Can we not argue? We all almost died and we're all tired."

 

"If you don't let her go she's just going to sneak out and do it anyway," Jin'Ya said. 

 

"Jin'Ya!"

 

"She's right," Rey sighed.

 

"You can't be serious."

 

"I am."

* * *

 

Jin'Ya was tired. She was really tired. She had been through so much in the past few years, she didn't feel like a teenager. She felt like someone who had lived for thousands and thousands of years, even though that was not the case.

 

She just wanted a break. Vi'Ra tied the girl's hair up, and she thought about what she was going to ask her before everything happened. Before New Alderaan was destroyed.  "Vi," 

 

"Yeah," 

 

"I needed to tell you something. Before we were interrupted -" 

 

"Can this wait?" Vi'Ra asked. "We need to get to Crait and get ready for our last stand. They knocked out their planet destroyer. It won't be ready for another month after all the power that they used."

 

"Yeah. Okay." 

 

* * *

 

 

They were going to make their last stand on Crait. Where Rey and Kylo had left each other so long ago. There was so much here that Vi'Ra could feel. So much energy. They had to win. The fight was coming to an end. Leia and her brother and sister were off the planet. The First Order ships were coming. It was going to be a hard time.

 

When the fight broke out, her mother, her father, and Jin'Ya were all there. But for the first time in a long time, Vi'Ra felt very afraid. 

 

She could feel something off in the Force. Something that she hated more than anything. Her mother was afraid. It was the first time the two of them had fought together, and she wanted to make sure that the both of them were safe. She knew that. She tried to reassure her through the force. They both had prepared for this moment. They would both be okay. She had been waiting for this moment for a long time. She didn't think that she was exactly blood thirsty. Just ready for this to end. Ready for Hux to see justice. Everything was going great, until it wasn't.

 

Hux was there. Something just took over Vi'Ra. She had to go after him. She had to find him and make sure that he was dead. Make sure that her family was safe. She just needed her family to be safe. 

 

"Vi'Ra, wait!"

 

"This has to end!" She shouted. "I'm so tired of fighting and not ending it." She was going to run for the AT-AT that she just knew that Hux was in but Jin'Ya pulled her back right before a shell exploded in front of them. Vi'Ra and Jin'Ya were blown back but both of them were uninjured.

 

Jin'Ya coughed. "You saved me."

 

"Yeah, dummy." She said. "Why wouldn't I?" Vi'Ra and Jin'Ya were laying down next to each other. Vi'Ra helped her up. "I - I need to tell you something now."

 

"I need to go," She was going to move again but Jin'Ya grabbed her by the collar of her jacket and kissed her. She let go of her not soon after that. "Wow," She breathed. "I uh...we can talk about this later." She told her. 

 

"We will." Jin'Ya said. "Now go! I'll cover you." Vi'Ra did go. She didn't know what she was expecting but her mother joined her when another shell nearly exploded. 

 

Rey pulled Vi'Ra out of the way as they hid behind a fallen X-Wing. "You need to be careful." 

 

"Mom, he's in there."

 

"I know," She said. "But you don't have to be."

 

"I am going in there. He made my life hell I deserve to look him in the eyes before he dies."

 

"I get that, kid. I really do, but I am still your mother. I am going to protect you." She looked really worried. Vi'Ra hated that. 

 

"We can do this together." She said. 

 

"Together." 

* * *

 

Hux was going to die. There was no other way around it. Everyone was gunning for him. Kylo found the AT AT that he was in and managed to render it disabled. The power was off and it was the perfect time to strike. The perfect time to finish what he started and protect his family. He just wanted to protect his family. 

 

But something else happened. As smoke wafter over the battle field and people cried out for help, begging for someone to help them, Kylo was surrounded, and Hux was lowered down from the AT AT unit. "Ah," He said, "finally. I knew you would do something stupid." 

 

"Why don't you just kill me already?" Kylo asked. "Since you seemed so keen on tearing apart everything that I built."

 

"Kill you?" Hux laughed, he looked terrible. Someone had been going a little too harshly on the hair gel. "No, not yet." He told him. "Don't get too impatient." 

 

 

"Really?" Kylo asked. "I'd say I've been pretty patient, considering that it's taken you years to do something." 

 

"You are still pretty brazen," Hux stepped more into the light. "I guess It's the one thing I could admire about you. But time is up." Two storm troopers pulled Finn and Rose out. "But wait, that's not all." Two more pulled out Vi'Ra and Rey. 

 

"You're going to watch them die first. And going to regret ever trying to take what was rightfully mine in the first place."

 

Kylo knew that if he moved that he could get him or any one of them killed. Vi'Ra didn't look afraid though. "I thought that you were taller." Vi'Ra called. Hux turned. 

 

"Who the hell are you?"

 

She stared at him. "Sweetie. Now isn't the best time."

 

"Vi'Ra." She said. "And to be honest I'm not very impressed by you."

 

Rey didn't say anything. "Is this how you taught your daughter to speak?" Hux laughed. "Because having a tongue like that will get her killed." 

 

"Don't you dare touch her."

 

"Oh, touchy touchy. I think that I'll start with her first." Rey tried to get up but someone struck her in the back of the head. 

 

"It's okay." Vi'Ra said. "It's okay, dad. Just stay there." Hux had her by the arm, taking her out into the middle of the circle. Kylo looked to Finn. He was struggling. Kylo was hoping he wouldn't do something stupid. It was looking like he might. He pushed her to the ground but Vi'Ra didn't cry. She wasn't going to give him that satisfaction. 

 

"Don't you dare-" Vi'Ra had a gun to her nose, face down in the salt. 

 

"You would think that if you were going to kill me, that you would at least look me in the eyes when you did it." She told him. 

 

"Be careful what you wish for." He said. He activated the gun. "You're going to see everything you worked so hard on fall-" 

 

Finn cracked, he ran, crashing into Hux and tackling him to the ground. Shots were fired but Hux didn't go down. He got a bloody nose out of it, although that was hardly satisfactory. 

 

* * *

 

No one would win this. 

 

Everyone was going to die.

 

Vi'Ra wasn't sure there was anything she could do to end this. She would end this. She ignored all of his scare tactics. Was just looking at Finn, lying there on the ground, he was shot and he couldn't breathe, and she had had it. She had to do something. 

 

She wasn't sure what happened, maybe she freaked out, but she just broke down. "Shut up, shut up. Shut up." She shouted. "Will you just shut up already?" Four stormtroopers fell to the ground. It was like there was an oppressive blanket over everyone and everything. Vi'Ra grabbed a handful of salt and threw it in Hux's face, and when he stumbled backwards, he landed on the wrong end of her mother's lightsaber.

 

Hux was dead. 

 

The war was one. 

 

 


	20. Epilogue: Forty Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Btw Finn survives getting shot, marries Rose and they both live well into their eighties together lol

"This is a celebration of life," Vi'Ra said, "of my mother and father." She was an adult now, she had a wife, Jin'Ya, and a kid. "And although they aren't here now. I know that they would be proud of the progress the New Order has made and how much we have done for the galaxies as a whole." Aurora was standing to Vi'Ra's side. Her guard and enthuiast in history of the Sith and Jedi orders.

 

Finn to her other side. He was a doctor. He didn't have the Force but he was one of the smartest people either of them knew. "A year after I became Supreme Leader," Vi'Ra said, "My mother and father were uh, they both knew they didn't have long left. And they both lived a full life filled with mistake and tragedy but they lived." She said. 

 

"They really lived. And I was just glad to be there and see it all." She bit her tongue, Jin'Ya held her hand. 

 

"I remember being a girl and wishing that I could be like them, wishing that I would have a legacy and continue on the greatness that they carried with them. For the longest time I didn't think I was capable of that," She could feel her mother and father with her now. "I always thought that I was going to live in their shadow, because those are some damn big shoes to fill." She saw them everywhere. She saw them in the crowd.

 

 "But that doesn't matter to me anymore. Because me, my brother and my sister, we got to know them. We got to help them make a change for the better in this universe, we got to meet their friends, Finn and Rose, Chewbacca, and my lovely grandmother Leia Organa, bless her heart, we got to be the people who tell their story. Most people don't get that. They don't know who lives, who dies, who tells your story. Today we start to tell their story, and I am glad that all of you are here today to the see the latest model of Alderaan's biosphere go up and running, with four times the defense mechanisms of the last, anyone is welcome here.  We will strive for long lasting peace and we will not bow down to any hate. We are the New Order, and we will go down in history."

 

* * *

 

**_History Data Record #36372_ **

 

_A long lasting peace came over the galaxies. The New Order reign lasted two thousand years and was the longest lasting peace anyone had seen in the longest time._


End file.
